Unpleasant or Extraordinary
by Wildfire2
Summary: When Jack ran away, he wasn't sure he would ever return. Twenty-eight years later he does, he expected things to be different. He never expected this. Mention of Mpreg.
1. Prelude

A.N. IMPORTANT please READ.  
OK, so for this story to make sense you need a base understanding of 'Almost Perfect' by James Goss. In this book Ianto is temporarily turned into a female, that is cannon not from some fanfic or my doing. I've included three excerpts from that book, please read them; they're funny and will help you understand my story. But as long as you have the knowledge that Ianto was at one point a female than you don't need to know much else from that book. This story will have a detailed explanation of how everything came about so stick with it and you'll understand the hows and whys. This is the prelude as such it's a bit choppy; however the rest of the story is not set up like this. On a side note, I really need a beta for this story, anyone interested?

Happy reading.  
Wildfire

*~*~TW~*~*

Unpleasant or Extraordinary

By Wildfire

Prelude

_Gwen nodded. 'Right. Nothing unusual then?'  
'Well, not apart from the surprising lack of cock.'  
'A situation we can all __sympathise__ with,' sighed Jack. 'Ianto Jones is brilliant, you know. He wakes up. Different fingerprints, voice, DNA, so how am I going to recognize him? He kisses me. And I know at once! Isn't that the most romantic thing you've ever heard?' He grinned dopily._  
(Almost Perfect, pg 21)

*~*~TW~*~*

_Ianto snapped the elastic band off the new batch of leaflets about an organic jam activity centre. He pinged the band expertly at Jack's ear. The Captain clapped his hands over the ear and gave Ianto a pout.  
'God, you're moody these days—you're not… at that time of the month, are you?'  
Ianto stared at him, horrified. 'Oh. I hope not. Am I? How can I tell?'  
'Wikipedia,' Jack tutted. 'Wikipedia.'_  
(Almost Perfect, Pg 129)

*~*~TW~*~*

_And the two of them stood there for a while, just watching the water.  
'So,' said Ianto finally, turning to Jack.  
'Yup,' said Jack.  
Ianto leaned in, quietly. 'I'm only a woman for one more night, you know.'  
Jack grinned broadly. 'Then let's make the most of it…'_  
(Almost Perfect, pg 246-247)

Ianto staggered into his apartment. The heels on his feet were killing him, and he stumbled out of them, eternally glad that after tomorrow he'd never have to wear the offending footwear again. He didn't understand women's fashion; he could mimic it, that was no problem, but he never would understand why the most uncomfortable clothing in the world made you presentable. He smiled when a pair of strong arms wrapped around him, pulling him close. This was probably the only thing he was going to miss when he was male again. Jack held him very differently as a female; his touch was softer, as if afraid he might somehow damage him.

Ianto turned around staring up at Jack, which was another odd thing; looking up at Jack. As himself he was the pretty much the same height as Jack, now… He smirked as both of Jack's arms wrapped tighter around him, pulling him flush.

"So…" Jack was grinning like a fool. Ianto had to chuckle slightly at him. It was obvious that Jack had been hoping for this since the morning he'd come in and given Jack 'that' kiss. It was a miracle it had worked.

Ianto stood on his tip-toes brushing his lips to Jack's. Jack groaned immediately deepening the kiss, his tongue invading Ianto's smaller mouth. Ianto kissed back until his toes started to cramp and he pulled away, slightly surprised at how easily Jack let him go. Normally he had to half-way wrestle the man to get free. Jack's eyes were predatory though as Ianto walked toward his bedroom, making sure he swayed his hips as he went. He was almost to his door when he heard Jack's feet quickly catching up, before he was scooped off the ground with a loud laugh.

*~*~TW~*~*

Ianto ended the call to his sister, striding alongside Jack, their faces grim. It was amazing how much he'd seen, and been through, in the last year. Losing Tosh and Owen had by far been the worse. Worse than being turned into a female; having to sing to try to attract aliens; Jack in that coma; and then there were the zombies. That had been a pretty horrifying event. What angered him was that this would have been a pretty tame event had the government not decided to get involved and build the bloody alien a home, bending over backwards for the thing.

Ianto and Jack hurried up the steps to the tall building, each pulling out their guns. They wouldn't be hiding who they were, or why they were here. They were here to stop this, and he would be damned if they didn't. Today the 456 terror ended.

*~*~TW~*~*

Gwen marched through the double doors not bothering to stop at the fancy desk; nor did she stop when the man behind the desk suddenly stood up demanding she stop. She did, however, stop when a large man stood in front of her aiming a gun at her head.

"Mrs. Cooper, I believe you were informed to not come here again." His voice was low and gruff.

"I believe I told you I don't bloody care what you told me. He's my co-worker, and I will be the one to transport him." She stood in front of the man unwavering; she didn't feel as intimidating as she once had. She wore a knee length coat that she had buttoned around her midriff, since she'd had her child a few months past and she still hadn't lost the baby fat. The vain part of her was sure this lowered the other's perception of her.

"We are perfectly able to transport a body, Mrs. Cooper." He holstered the weapon. "We're glad to be rid of him. We really don't need, nor want your kind here."

Gwen's hand itched to grab her gun, but she suppressed the urge. "Well, since we're in agreement, why don't you bring him out, and we can both leave you in peace." She kept her tone clipped; she'd almost rather deal with weevils than UNIT. She knew she should have sent Martha in.

The man activated his ear piece, talking in a low voice. Gwen didn't bother trying to overhear. There was nothing about this mission that was deadly or dangerous; she was just picking up an old co-worker. She closed her eyes for a small moment remembering the young man they'd lost. Ianto Jones. When he'd died they'd had no Hub morgue to put his body in, and as such UNIT had frozen him until they could rebuild. It had taken a year, but they were finally ready to bring Ianto Jones back to Torchwood.

"Alright, my man will meet you out front," he said with a slightly smug expression on his face. Gwen wasn't sure why, but she was willing to bet she wasn't going to like it. She turned on her heel, heading straight past the fancy desk with the scowling man.

Gwen returned to the SUV where Martha was waiting somewhat impatiently, her own belly just barely starting to show the signs of pregnancy. Gwen wished her all the luck in the world, though she didn't ever plan to have any more children, despite Rhys having different ideas. He wanted a big happy family. Bless the man. She smiled to herself as she came to stand beside Martha. "Feeling any better?"

Martha smiled. "I'm alright, Mickey gave me some ginger snaps. I've been nibbling those. They seem to be helping. They give you any trouble in there?" She sipped from a bottle of water, sighing a bit; it was a ridiculously hot day in London.

"They're magic, they are." Gwen smiled at her. "They said they'd be bringing Ianto right out. But I'm thinking they're planning something." She let out an aggravated sigh. "How did Jack keep these guys in line?"

Martha chuckled. "Probably by flirting." Her eyes widened as a man wheeled out a gurney laden with a body only covered by a red sheet. "What the hell! Where's the freezer unit?" She quickly went over, relived to at least find that the body was still frozen.

The man shrugged. "Boss said not to worry about it as you both could apparently handle it without. Good luck with it." He spoke with all the proper tone and protocol, but his eyes shone with a slight delight.

"Bloody UNIT," Gwen growled taking a hold of the gurney and wheeling it to the back of the SUV; the UNIT officer at least helped her load it.

Martha quickly climbed into the SUV pulling the red cloth away. "He was frozen almost immediately after death and he's still frozen now. He will thaw…" she grimaced at her own word, "before we get back to the Hub, but an hour or so should do no permanent damage." She pulled the red cloth back over the body. "We can crank the AC up and it should help slow down the process a bit."

Gwen nodded getting into the driver's seat and starting the engine. "Is he going to start smelling?" she asked cautiously.

Martha smiled. "Shouldn't, not for an hour. Might get some smell from the defrosting, but we shouldn't have any of the 'dead' body smell. At least not yet."

Gwen nodded turning silent. Eventually Martha leaned over turning on the radio and they both relaxed; neither of them wanting to talk when the third body in the car was so very silent.

Of course the silence also left a lot of room for thinking, and Gwen's thoughts couldn't leave the young man they were taking home. Ianto Jones, barely 25 years old and more proper than any of them put together. She could still remember his stern face as he'd go around giving everyone their coffee, giving small lipped smiles to everyone's vague thanks. Or when he'd come out from Jack's office straightening his tie, trying to pretend he hadn't just shagged their boss, when of course all he'd accomplished was looking slightly like a guilty puppy.

He was so young when he died; he had just started coming into himself, learning his own self worth and value. He had had so much to live for and then it was all over, all because of some stupid air born virus. His death had felt so empty; he didn't die with a vengeance, he died gasping for his last breath in Jack's arms. That was good she supposed, he at least got to die with Jack. She liked to think that would at least have made the young man happy. Well, she at least hoped. Gwen let out a deep breath; at least he no longer had to wonder what he and Jack were.

A loud gasp suddenly came from the back of the SUV, the red sheet falling away as Ianto's body jerked straight up. Gwen let out a scream wrenching the wheel sharply. A loud horn blared and she yanked the wheel back. The SUV swerved wildly, the right-side wheels lifting from the road. The SUV tilted alarmingly. Gwen leaned the other way in a vain hope to get the wheels back onto the ground, but gravity had other plans and the SUV toppled, skidding on its side along the road before finally coming to rest half way into the grass on the side of the road. Gwen let out a small groan, before her eyes snapped open. "Martha, you alright?"

Martha didn't respond as she quickly undid her seat belt and stumbled into the back. Gwen turned to watch as Martha shoved away the gurney that was now laying on Ianto's once again still form. Her fingers going to his neck, eyes wide, she stared up at Gwen incredulously. "Gwen… He's alive."


	2. Chapter 1

A.N. Thanks everyone who has put me on an alert, or for the blessed few of you who reviewed. It means a lot to me.

I noticed some of you seemed to like the quotes in the beginning, I can continue that if you want. I own all the Torchwood books so it wouldn't be a problem. Of course I'd make sure they didn't spoil the story too much by giving them to you. Let me know. Thanks for the reviews and happy reading.

Wildfire.

Disclaimer- I do not, obviously, own Torchwood. If I did Ianto Jones would never have died and as thus this story would never have been written.

Unpleasant or Extraordinary

By Wildfire

Chapter one

~**28 years later**~

It was a bright day: one of the few days in Cardiff where not a cloud could be seen in the sky. A light breeze ruffled through the green grass on a forgotten hill.

It was on this hill that a man stood, wearing an old war coat. He looked around with a contemplative look on his face and sighed; it would be odd being on Earth again. He shrugged out of his long coat, and putting it over his arm he headed down the hill.

He would have to walk a few miles before he'd find a phone to call a cab, and that was if things hadn't changed too much in the last 20 or so years. He figured he was probably pretty safe, if anything the town would have grown and he'd be able to get to a phone sooner.

He stuffed his hands into his pants pockets as he walked. It was nice feeling the sun again; on the ships they had rooms with synthetic suns, but it never felt quite the same as being outside in the natural sunlight and warmth. Earth's sun was actually one of the reasons why he adored it so much; it had a great sun.

As he reached the dirt road he smiled faintly, remembering the night Gwen had hauled her very pregnant form up that hill to say goodbye. A pang of regret tightened his chest as he recalled her distraught face. She would most likely put a bullet through his head the moment she saw him— if she was still alive.

He immediately chased that thought from his head. He'd told her to get out of Torchwood. To leave and raise her child in safety. He knew that she wouldn't, but he held onto the fleeting hope that she might have followed his advice. That maybe the child would sway her enough to live a quiet life.

Gwen would be in her late 50's, early 60's now, though he couldn't recall her actual age when he left anymore—33? 34? Maybe only 30? He honestly couldn't remember which just went to make him feel even guiltier. To be fair though, he could never remember anyone's age, it just wasn't something that crossed his mind, and in fact he wasn't even real sure of his own age. Ianto had figured it out for him once, in all of about 10 seconds.

Ianto…

His pace slowed down. He remembered Ianto's age, 25; he remembered Ianto's smile, his smell, his suits, his humor… He remembered Ianto Jones, and he didn't plan on forgetting him—ever. He'd sworn to the man so many times, that he wouldn't just be some blip in Jack's long time line, and Jack was going to ensure that was true. Part of him sometimes wondered if he had perhaps fallen in love with the young man, but a much bigger part of his mind would quickly reject the idea. He didn't think he was entirely capable of love anymore. How could you love someone who died so soon and quickly faded from your life? No, he didn't love Ianto Jones, but he had—did—care for him deeply, and he would honor his memory.

He walked off the dirt track and onto the normal paved road, stopping a moment to look about; it appeared just as he remembered it. Well at least he thought it did, how different could a road look? His head turned when he heard a car coming and he raised a thumb. It was worth a shot at least. The worst that might happen is that they turn out to be psychos who kill him leave him on the side of the road, and he falls a few hours behind. Not really all that big a deal in the great scope of things. Just one more death to add to the tally. The thought brought his memories back to Ianto. The young man had been trying to compile a list of all his different deaths. It had been a tedious, useless task, but Ianto had been convinced it might help something at some point. He had never completed the task of course. The 456 had ended that as they had ended so many things.

His thought pattern stopped as the passing car actually pulled over. He quickly jogged over, opening the door to see three giggling girls. He put on his best grin as he squeezed into the back seat.

The girls, it turned out, were heading into Cardiff themselves, and were more than happy to give Jack a lift. They definitely weren't the most attractive women, but they were passably cute, and Jack had no problem laying on the charm and flirting the whole way into the city. They reluctantly dropped him off near the Millennium Centre leaving him clutching three scrappy pieces of paper each bearing a telephone number. He watched the car drive away, idly wondering what kind of model it was. He'd never seen a car like it, but then after almost 30 years it was inevitable cars were bound to change. Steeling himself, he turned his attention to the large water fountain, wondering if the Hub was even under there anymore. When he'd left they'd been in the process of rebuilding it here, but that didn't mean it hadn't been moved since then. Well, there was no way to know until he tried. He walked briskly over to where the Tourist Office had once been, pulling his coat on as he went. If he was going to return, he planned to do it in style.

As he came into view of the Tourist Office, he slowed down. It had been rebuilt too, a swanky affair of brushed metal and glass. Inside he could see racks laden with the pamphlets and advertisements. It looked like an honest-to-goodness Tourist Office. He slowly pushed open the door, and his fear that the Hub had moved instantly fled from his brain. Behind the desk sat a young woman who was the spitting image of Gwen, even down to the gap-toothed smile she flashed at him. As Jack stepped inside his eyes raked over her trying to find anything of Rhys in the young woman; he couldn't see a thing of the man in her.

"Good day, sir. Are you looking for some information today?" Jack was relieved to hear that she didn't sound a thing like Gwen.

He nodded. "I am actually." He came forward picking up a leaflet on some local fair. "But not for anything in here. I was actually hoping I might see your mother?" His stomach flipped as he waited to hear her response.

"My mother?" She paused and her lips tightened. "I'm sorry my mother passed away a few years back. How did you know her?" She stared at Jack with the same look of mistrust Gwen would use when she thought he was going to do something she didn't like.

Even though he had been half-expecting the news it was still like a punch to the gut.  
"I used to work with her," he said unable to keep the tightness out of his voice. That was it then; his team was all officially gone. "Jack Harkness." He held his hand out.

She gave a gasp, eyes wide. "Jack… H-Harkness? THE Jack Harkness?" She was suddenly leaning forward. "The one who ran away after the 456?"

His smile was brittle. "Needed to get away for a bit," he said with a flippantness he didn't feel. "So, who's currently running everything here?"

"I am." A female voice sounded.

Jack spun quickly to see an older woman. Her hair was mostly gray, but freckled with some of the black that it had once been.

"Martha Jones, voice of a nightingale." He grinned. "Look at you." He moved toward her.

"Martha Smith if you remember. I was married." She moved over, pulling him into a tight hug, and then laughed. "You haven't changed a bit. Still looking like a big kid who's about to get into the cookie jar." She pulled him down giving him a small, soft kiss, and then moved away, looking across to the young woman. "I see you've met Katie. She's our receptionist."

Jack smiled warmly back at Katie, who blushed and quickly averted her gaze. Jack was a bit surprised to see her blush like that, her mother had been so face frontal, dive right in; she never seemed to get embarrassed by anything. Apparently her daughter took more after Rhys in that sense.

"Martha…," she whispered, looking sideways at Jack. "David will be back soon with Jordan."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Are these people I should know about?"

Martha paused, deliberating. "Not sure, it kind of depends on you. Will you be staying here for a bit? Or do you plan to leave after hellos?"

Jack shrugged. "Haven't really made any plans, I suppose I partly wanted to just see how everyone is. See if you even needed my help." He looked around. "Doesn't seem like it though. Pretty posh place you've all made."

Martha smiled. "It is. Of course we could always use some extra hands that are experienced."

Jack nodded hesitantly; 'use an extra pair of hands' was not the same as being needed. He also noticed that Martha seemed to be holding something back; she had the faint trace of being slightly nervous. "Well, I suppose I could stick around for a bit. Check over anything the Rift spits out. See if I can tell you anything you might not know."

Martha seemed to be wavering as she stared at him. Jack was pretty sure he was about to be told the information that was being withheld from him.

She suddenly smiled. "Well, you can meet Jordan now." There was an edge to her voice and he had a sinking feeling that he was about to be tested. He turned around to see a young man, probably in his early 30's, carrying a baby. He entered the Tourist Office eyeing Jack warily. There was something vaguely familiar about him, but Jack couldn't place it. The baby was absolutely adorable, big blue eyes and slightly curly brown hair. He was dressed in tan slacks and a cute light blue button up shirt. The outfit seemed a bit fancy for a child so young. Jack estimated the kid couldn't be older than 16 months old, maybe even as little as 14 months.

"Hello, Jordan." Jack held his hand out to the young man, surprised when the man didn't take his hand and instead gave him a dirty glare.

"I'm David. This is Jordan." He gestured to the baby, which was currently hiding his face in his shirt.

Jack nodded. "Right. Sorry." He glanced back at Martha, and then gave a shrug, moving over and gently taking the small child from the man before he could protest. "So, is he some alien in disguise then? Bet he is, he's too cute to be real." He gently brushed the child's curly locks away from his forehead; something about his eyes was itching at him. "Who's his mother?"

David looked ready to snatch the child back, Katie was gripping her desk and even Martha looked uneasy with Jack just taking the child. He wasn't sure what they'd expected him to do.

"He's human," Martha finally said. "A very special human baby boy, his name is-" She hesitated. "Jordan, he's very smart. He keeps us all on our toes, he does."

Jack turned to look at her. "So what's his full name? Or am I not allowed to know that?" He blinked as a small hand slowly reached up and patted his cheek. He looked back down at the child. "Do you know your name?" The child nodded. "Your full name?" He wouldn't be surprised if all he got from the small child was his first name; that was all Alice would say when she was little. The child nodded again, a bit slower. "Can you tell me?"

Jordan gave a small smile hiding his face into Jack's shirt. Jack smiled in amusement. He really was adorably cute. He was about to hand him over to Martha, but for some reason he wanted to continue holding him. It'd been a long time since he'd held a baby.

David cleared his throat. "Alright, this is bloody ridiculous. Why the hell is he here? He just gets to march in and take over again, is that it?" He glaredat Martha, "We just hand Jordan over to him?"

"David-" Martha started, but Jack held a hand up, stalling her.

"You look oddly familiar; remind me how I know you?" Jack asked, ignoring the man's outburst.

"You were at my Uncle's service, in the back ground, _trying_ to not be noticed. Bit of advice, yeah? Don't wear your bloody war coat when you don't want to be noticed." He stormed past, walking right through what had appeared to be a solid wall.

Martha nodded. "It's like a perception filter, only we can open and close it." She gestured to a picture on the wall. "If the sky is gray then the door's open, if it's blue then it's just a solid wall," she explained.

Jack stared at the wall a moment. "That was Ianto's nephew." He said slowly, realization dawning. "How did he get tangled up in all this?" He looked down at the child, understanding the eyes now; somehow the child had ended up with Ianto's eyes. "It's no wonder he's mad, though really he shouldn't be working here with a child. This is no place for children."

Katie leaned forward. "David is not the father." She giggled a bit, her dark brown hair falling over her shoulder. "Mica works here too. They both started shoving their way in the same time my brother and I did." She came around the desk. "R.J. is my brother, my mother's first child. I was her second and last. R.J. works up in London now with UNIT, so we don't get to see him too much. Tad went up and visited him last weekend though. Um, hmm…" she tapped her chin. "Martha —," she gestured to the older woman, "has a little girl, named Clara. She works in politics. She's a right force to be reckoned with, she is. We lost Mickey at the same time we lost my mam; they died stopping an explosion from wiping out half the city." Her voice died away, the smile fading from her face.

"So this is Mica's child?" He was slightly alarmed at the fact that both Ianto's niece and nephew were involved in Torchwood; he would have to ask Martha why later.

"No." Martha stepped forward taking the child from Jack. "Why are you so sure he's related to Ianto?" she asked softly, kissing the child's forehead.

Jack didn't care to admit that Martha taking the child, bothered him. It shouldn't, it was just some baby. His eyes moved to Jordan's eyes again. Then back to Martha, "Why is there a baby in the Hub anyway?" he asked, choosing to ignore Martha's question.

"His dad is a single parent, and sort of locked into Torchwood. As such Jordan's here too. It's a bit complicated, but it works. We love having him around." She smiled at the baby. "He's the definition of a perfect baby, barely cries, freakin' brilliant and unbelievably adorable. Why wouldn't we want him around?"

"Because it's dangerous here, and in no way a place for a child to be." He reached forward taking the child back, slightly forcefully. "You bring things in that leak radiation, creatures that if they got free for a second, or fired something at him, could kill him." He felt himself glaring at her. It wasn't so much that the child was in the Hub that bothered him; it was more that it went against common sense. When had Martha lost _her_ common sense?

There was jingle as the door opened behind him; he didn't bother turning to see who it was now. He wanted an explanation as to why a baby would be a normal fixture within the Hub.

"You always stick your bottom lip out when you're mad."

The soft Welsh voice hit him like a fist to the gut. Jack turned sharply around, eyes wide at the sight before him. It was an impossible sight. Not improbable or unbelievable, but impossible. There, leaning against the glass door, was Ianto Jones. A perfect, exact Ianto Jones. His stern face and big eyes staring at him, looking no different than he had when he'd last seen him— he still looked 25 and gorgeous.

Before he even knew what he was doing Jack had his gun pulled and aimed at the Ianto lookalike. "What the hell are you? You picked the wrong person to imitate," he growled.

A slight quirk of the lip was the only response Jack got. The child however, started squirming immediately and reached out for the man. Jack tightened his grip on both the child and the gun.

"Jack, put the gun down." Martha commanded. "You and your gun, it doesn't solve everything. Come on down into the Hub and we can explain."

He slowly lowered the gun, but didn't put it away.

The man came over, pointedly ignoring Jack as he pulled the child free with a smile. "Hello." The child giggled, clinging to him. "Did you have fun at the park? Use words."

"Yeah." Jordan whispered looking to Jack. "Who that?"

"That…that is a pain in my arse. Why, do you like him?" The voice said slowly looking up to Jack again, a certain level of uncertainty in his voice.

Jordan nodded.

Jack was stuck staring at the young man, heart thumping louder than it had in years. He realized everyone else had left the room and his hand tightened on the gun. No. Ianto Jones was dead, and even if he had survived he'd be in his 50's. This was not Ianto Jones. He wanted answers. Now.

Wordlessly Jack turned away and vanished through the wall, into the Hub.


	3. Chapter 2

A.N. Dang, this chapter was a real brat to write! I hope it makes sense; I reread it about 20 times to try and make sure it did. If it doesn't please let me know and I can try and fix it.

Thanks to everyone who's reviewed or alerted this story. It means a lot and I love hearing from you guys. I was shocked to see this story was actually put on as favorites for some people. Only two chapters in… hope I can live up to the expectations. ^_^

Happy reading

Wildfire

TW Quote:

'_I'm always careful,' Jack said out of the corner of his mouth. 'Just be ready with the handcuffs.'_

'_If I had a penny for every time you've used that line,' Ianto deadpanned._

_Jack shot him a look, then strolled across to the bottom of the metal stairs, like a one-man welcoming committee for a visiting dignitary._

(Bay of the Dead, Pg 174)

* * *

Unpleasant or Extraordinary

By Wildfire

Chapter Two

Jack strode into the Hub; it was much cleaner and glossier than he remembered. There were no leaky pipes or crumbling walls, it was industrialized and… well, shiny. He moved straight to Martha, and stood in front of her, arms crossed.

Martha turned to him handing him a folder. "I ran every test on him there is, Jack. It's Ianto. We even had a visit from the Doctor a few years back. He helped answer a lot of questions. He's changed his face again; he's different." She looked slightly sad for a moment. "But he's still the Doctor. He got very excited about making a PowerPoint presentation of all things, said he's never made one before, always wanted to." She gestured to the folder. "That's Ianto's history; you can go over it with a fine-toothed comb. He's our Ianto," she repeated.

"How?" Jack opened the folder. It had read outs of everything medical about Ianto. "The Doctor checked him out? He's not just some possessed… form?"

A light chuckle came from behind him. "If I am, I make a pretty awful one." Jack turned to stare at Ianto, still holding Jordan. "You told me you wouldn't leave me again, Jack," Ianto said accusingly."You promised."

"You were dead," Jack replied harshly as he fiddled with the paper. "How can you still be this age? How are you alive?" He looked up and wondered if somehow this thing had tricked the Doctor; that maybe it was some horrible lie. Or maybe it was true. Did he dare consider that?

Ianto smirked. "That's your fault actually, well… sort of. Really it's kind of this guy's fault." He smiled down at Jordan. "I don't believe you've been properly introduced. Jack, this is Jacob-Jordan Jack Jones. He has a lot of names because he'll have a nice long life. He's my son, and he's 22 years old. I was pregnant with him for five years, after you knocked me up." He rattled off the facts, in a flat hurried voice, as if trying to get it all out with no emotion as fast as possible.

Jack just stared uncomprehendingly at him for a moment.

"You're sticking your bottom lip out again," Ianto said softly.

"That…is…impossible," Jack said slowly, in a low voice.

Martha cleared her throat. "I believe you were once told you were impossible too. But, like I said we have a PowerPoint presentation if you want to have a watch. Or, if you're going to go into shock I could get you a blanket," Martha teased.

Jack sat in front of the computer with a huff. Martha leaned over him opening up a file labeled I.J.

"I'll warn you, it's a bit… well Doctorish. He had quite a bit of fun making it. This is the version we could actually understand. He made another with diagrams and terms no one's ever heard of, but no one had a clue what he was going on about, so he made this one. He called it the simple version."

Jack made a point of not looking at Ianto as he started the PowerPoint. The screen went white, before typing appeared on it.

'Hello!' A cartoon phone booth appeared on the screen and a stick figure with shaggy black hair stepped out. 'I'm The Doctor! I'm here to tell you about Ianto Jones.' Another stick figure appeared, this one wearing a tie and waving. 'As you already know, or perhaps not, Ianto Jone's died in 2009. A horrible time, with child stealing aliens.' The eyes of the Ianto stick figure changed to X's.

'SO, now you are all wondering why he is now alive.' The X's vanished from the stick figure. 'Well, to properly explain that we have to go back in time. Often in his past Ianto Jones has come across some pretty odd alien mechanics. And no, before you ask, none of them have been of the 'impregnate-the-male' sort. But, on one occasion he did come across an orb, which made Mr. Jones a rather perfect female.' The stick figure lost its tie and gained a skirt. 'Now, at this time Mr. Jones also happened to be dating a rather sexed crazed man named Jack Harkness. Sorry, _Captain _Jack Harkness.'

A new stick figure appeared on screen wearing a long coat and cheesy smile. It strode over to the Ianto stick figure.

'NOW, Mr. Jones wouldn't let our Captain get into his skirt while he was female… well until that last day. He logically concluded that since he would be male again in the morning there could be no harm in it. And he _would_ have been right, but there were a few things Mr. Jones wasn't expecting…'

'His period for one. He was right due, which meant that an egg was right there. The other factor is that Jack's sperm is a bit different than others.' The screen changed to show an image of a sperm. 'These are normal sperm; they travel at normal speed. This is Jack's sperm.' The picture stayed the same, but the sperm had a fake glow haloed around them. 'You see Jack practically leaks life energy, and his sperm are no different; they are stronger and faster, BUT they die quicker. You see Jack's unique life force is present throughout _his_ body and he can give small bits of that energy out, but it will only work for a very short time. Once it's separated from Jack's body it loses energy and quickly dies off. Or, in the case of an unborn child, it reverts to normal.'

'Jack's sperm unconnected from an egg would die in just a few hours, but the Jack sperm IN an egg would lose the life feeding energy later, after about 16 hours, because it will _actually_ feed off the energy of the life being created. It's a rather brilliant thing really.'

'Anyway, that's the key, that little sperm in that little egg alive with non-killable life energy. But why was that the key? That is the truly, truly brilliant part.' The screen went back to the two stick figures of Jack and Ianto. 'During the night Ianto was changing back into a man. The process starting on the outside, and then moving to his internal organs.' The skirt vanished and a tie appeared on the stick figure. 'So, when Mr. Jones awoke, he thought he was all man. He looked like a man and he felt like a man. But, he was in fact was still changing back _into_ a man, and on the inside that fertilized egg was still there. Now, if Mr. Jones had gotten up and gone to work, that fertilized egg would eventually have just died. Mr. Jones would have been blissfully unaware of any of it beside a mild stomach ache as the fertilized egg was reabsorbed into his totally male body.'

'But-' The stick figure of Jack got a bigger grin. 'Our dear Captain just couldn't wait to be with a male Mr. Jones.' A giant red heart appeared over the two stick figures. 'Now, what this did was to send new live non-killable sperm into Mr. Jones again. So what, right? Wrong! You see when the energized sperm raced into the _changing_ body they met with the outside of a uterus that was about to be dismantled. But within that uterus was a fertilized egg, with the _same_ life energy as they had. WELL, the things actually appeared to have protected the egg, so as the uterus started to vanish, and the still immortal egg started the process of dying and reviving, the sperm actually used their life force to maintain a sort of womb.'

'Now Jack's sperm — in all logic— should _not_ have done that. A sperm does not have a brain, it does not have a way to think through a problem. So how did it? Can't say I have a clue, but isn't that the beauty of life? Creating a life form with two different things molding together? It's just brilliant!'

The heart vanished from the stick figures. 'So, as such the new life form within Mr. Jones was surrounded by energy that should have died away, but _didn't_ because the thing sustaining it was in fact the same. And the sustaining energy was in turn continuously energized, not just by the life energy of a new human, but also from little extra jumps every time Mr. Jones and our dear Captain engaged in, "dancing". _Meaning_, the live-forever-gene that should in no way shape or form be passed on was, unbelievably, improbably, _passed _on. Of course this also meant the child growing inside Mr. Jones was doing so at an unbelievably slow pace. In fact Mr. Jones could have lived into his hundreds without ever knowing he was pregnant. But he didn't, Mr. Jones died; just a few months after this all took place, he died.'

The X's appeared back in the Ianto stick figure eyes. 'He was frozen,' the stick figure turned blue, 'and Jack ran away.' The Jack stick figured vanished. 'Rather a sad end to our tale. But, it wasn't the end because Mr. Jones' body was residing in UNIT until he could be transported back to Torchwood. To be difficult UNIT decided to play a joke on Torchwood and gave them the body of Mr. Jones without a freezer unit. And he started to thaw…'

'The life force sperm, or we can call it the life bubble, thawed. As it did the egg started to die and revive as there was no longer anything feeding it or giving it oxygen. Yet again the special seed of our Captain solved the problem, which is beyond brilliant! It divided the energy within the new fetus, half of the energy staying with the child the other half going directly into Mr. Jones. And wouldn't you know it…' The Ianto stick figure lost its blue tinge, and the X's vanished from his eyes. 'We have a living breathing Ianto Jones again, the child in him having given half of its force to its parent so they could both live. As a result the child actually started to age much quicker than it had been. Five years later the child was born, looking like a 6 month old preemie, alive and kicking. And THAT is the story of Ianto Jones.' The screen went black.

Jack sat speechless for a moment, before replaying the presentation. After watching it for a second time he sat back thinking. After a moment he stood up and went in search of more answers, eventually managing to track Martha down in her office. "That doesn't make any sense," he stated sitting down in one of the chairs. "I had sex with Alice's mother multiple times and she didn't become immortal."

Martha nodded, her face sympathetic. "You should have been here when he was here actually trying to explain it. We were all lost and he was staring at us like we were the mental ones." She rolled her chair over so she was sitting in front of him. "Look, when Alice was in her mother, she wasn't about to be reabsorbed into a male body, the uterus wasn't about to just vanish. From what I have been able to understand it was the fact that the gene was still active and that the uterus was vanishing that allowed it to happen. The Doctor said it's about a 1 in a billion chance that everything would have lined up this perfectly. He was very excited over it. Kept going on about the improbability of it and the brilliance of your sperm. We all got a bit tired of hearing about that," she said with a grin.

"Well…" Jack grinned. "I can't deny that brilliance. The little suckers no doubt take after me," he teased , although his tone told her his heart clearly wasn't in it. "Suppose I should talk to him."

Martha nodded, "That would be best, he's probably in the archive, he usually hides there whenever anyone is asking questions about him or Jordan. He hates the stares; he never has been one to like the spot light on him."

Jack nodded, standing up. "Still the same way to get down there?"

Martha shrugged. "No idea, I don't remember how it used to be. I never really go down there now, let alone back when I was just a sort of sub on the team."

"Right." Jack nodded. "I'll figure it out." He headed toward the door.

Martha chuckled. "Just go left, then right. The third door on the left is where he usually is."

He gave an abrupt nod before heading down into the archives following her directions. He opened the door slowly. Ianto was sitting at a desk that Jack could only assume belonged to the man. Beside the desk Jordan was sat playing with what looked like a cell phone.

"Hey," Jack said softly.

Ianto looked up. "Hello," he responded, just as softly.

Jack felt like he could actually taste the awkwardness between them. A little unsure he slowly stepped forward into the room. "So… um…" He racked his brain for something even slightly intelligent to say. "Why all the J's?" He gestured to the child. _Great opening line_, he thought cringing inwardly, _really inspired._

Ianto shrugged. "I was a bit doped up at the time, I figured since we both had J's in our names that it only fit. It was either that, or he would have been named James Bond Jones. Martha luckily talked me out of that one. Gwen teased me about it for months." His voice was steady, no hint of teasing.

Jack nodded. "So… he's 22?" He watched as the child started sucking on the phone.

"Yes, but 22 is the actual number of physical years he's been alive. Mentally he's the equivalent of a 16-month old baby. Well, a smart 16 month old, perhaps. He doesn't grow, but he can learn if you have a lot of patience. He's fully potty trained, and can obviously talk, knows all his colors, he can even add and subtract. Of course he doesn't talk much, but that probably has to do with the fact that _I'm_ not a big talker and he's around me most of the time." He paused, avoiding making eye contact with Jack. "I've been trying to work on his dexterity a bit lately. He's getting better. He can pick and stack three cheerios now."

"Cheerios!" The child grinned, holding up the phone.

Ianto smiled down at him, taking it. "Hello? Mmhmm, yes ok." He handed it back. "It's for you." The child grinned, taking it back and shutting it. Ianto made a surprised face. "Oh, you just hung up on the President of the United States!" The child giggled, opening the phone again, this time holding it up to Jack.

Jack carefully took the flip phone from the child and held it up to his ear. Jordan and Ianto's eyes were glued to him, to see what he'd do. "What?" he said loudly into the phone making them both jump. "Oh right." He held the phone back to the child. "It's for you," he said repeating Ianto's earlier words. Jordan laughed, snatching the phone and putting the top part into his mouth.

Ianto chuckled, his eyes showing nothing but fondness as he watched the child.

"So, you said his name was Jacob, why does everyone call him Jordan then?" Jack finally asked, desperate to keep any form of communication going between them.

"Jacob-Jordan Jack Jones." Ianto said almost automatically. "I figured if he's going to live as long as he is then he should have a lot of names so he could change them, but still be himself. He was Jacob when he was first born, then Gwen started calling him J.J. That stuck for quite some time, and just in the last few years has it moved to Jordan. By his request." He nodded to the child. "I was angry and used his full name, and he started demanding we call him Jordan. It's his name, if he wants to be called it then I wasn't going to argue."

Jack nodded. "He's beautiful."

"He should be; he could be your clone." Ianto huffed. "He even smiles like you do."

Jack grinned. "My hair's not curly, and my eyes are not like that."

"They're blue, just like yours," Ianto argued.

"No, mine are dark blue, yours are light, and his are light. He's got your eyes." Jack stared into Ianto's eyes as if daring him to argue.

Ianto looked halfway torn before he sighed and shook his head. "It doesn't matter, not really. He turned out perfect, which he should have considering how long he took to come out. The pregnancy that never ended, that was."

Jack smiled. "I hope you have pictures of that."

"Not that you'll see," Ianto quickly said, his face flushing red.

Jack smiled. "Will… What I mean is… Well…" He looked to the child. "Would you allow me to have some time with him? Sometimes? I know I wasn't here for the last 20 some years, but… I'd still like to know him."

"Jack, I would never take him from you. He's your child. You have just as much right to be with him as I do. We'll set something up. It'll be good for him to be around someone who talks more anyway." Ianto said the words clearly, but Jack could pick up the doubt and concern under the words. He had no doubt that Ianto did not want to give up care of his son.

"Thank you." Jack sat back, eyeing the young man in front of him. Did he dare ask about them? Did he dare try and start up a relationship that had ended so long ago? "Right, well, I better go see where Martha is going to put me then." He stood up, giving one last look at the man and child before he hurried from the room, the ringing sound of his footsteps echoing around the large room.


	4. Chapter 3

A.N. Must say this has to be the first story I've ever done that I got so many alerts and so very few reviews for. I'm not really sure if it's because people are iffy about the story, or if people don't want others to know they read a story with mpreg it's like a bad porno that is, can't let someone know they like that. ^_^ Or perhaps it's just the genera, I notice a lot of stories in the Torchwood area don't have a lot of reviews. Listen to me ramble, sorry.  
Well today's quote is one I just adored, started laughing when I read it and then went back and thought it was a bit sad. Let me know what you think.

_Ianto's worse ever birthday party had included a food fight.  
Watching drunken, rowing parents throw trifle at each other in screaming fury while he gathered his friends to him, shielding as many as possible from being hit by a stray pickled onion. He never ever wanted to see that much mess covering so many people again._  
(Risk Assessment, Pg 174)

* * *

Unpleasant or Extraordinary  
By Wildfire  
Chapter Three

The archive was silent. There wasn't a sound: no beeping, no chattering, or singing or giggling, or clinking… or anything. The silence was driving Ianto mental. For the last 22 years there had always been some noise while he was down here, as he always had Jordan with him. Jack, however, had taken Jordan out with him today.

It had been just two days since Jack had randomly shown up. The first day Ianto had all but run away when he saw him, but today Jack had managed to corner him in the kitchen. He had wanted to take Jordan for the day. Ianto had agreed, of course he had. He wasn't going to keep Jack from his child. He wasn't.

Ianto gave a sigh and closed his eyes. Part of him was absolutely thrilled that Jack was here again, part of him was furious, and another, more alarming part, was actually slightly scared to see the man again. It was the fear that gnawed at Ianto. It wasn't that he was afraid Jack would take his child from him, or that Jack would hurt his — their — child. He knew Jack wouldn't let that happen. No, he was more scared about what would happen once Jack asked him out again, because he knew the man would; it was only a matter of time. He'd told himself years ago that even if Jack came back he wouldn't get involved romantically again. That was before he'd seen him of course. He wasn't sure he could say no to the man now, but then again, he'd never been able to say no to Jack before. He could stand up to the man, tell him he was wrong and being bull-headed, or snap at him for getting too grabby, but if Jack gave him that child-like look of his…

Ianto sighed. He wasn't sure who he was trying to fool. He was going to be alive for a long time. Jack was the only other one — that wasn't his child — that would live like he would. He'd come to grips with the fact that he'd be alive longer than all his friends. Well, he hoped he had. He figured he'd actually know if he had come to grips with it when he started watching everyone die. Gwen and Mickey's death had sent him a bit loopy for a while. Living like this took survivor's guilt to a whole new level. He ran a tired hand over his face; everything was just so… messed up. He wasn't suppose to live this long. He wasn't even supposed to see his 30's, let alone his 50's. He was exactly 50 this year: he should be pulling out gray hairs and looking at new wrinkles or an age spot. He looked down at his hands, smooth skin, not a single age spot there. He hadn't expected there to be, of course.

He remembered his mam talking to him when he was young about aging. Saying how odd it was to really look in the mirror, as she still felt like she always had, but no longer looked it. He now realized it was even more peculiar to look in the mirror after almost 30 years, and realize you looked exactly the same.

His attention snapped back to the paperwork in front of him, and he mentally scolded himself for not focusing. He had a job that needed to get done, and sitting there just thinking was not progressing it. His eyes moved down to the paper, only they refused to focus on the words. He groaned plopping his head down onto the desk.

"Does smacking your head help?"

Ianto quickly looked up to see Jack leaning in the doorway, a giant grin on his face, and a very sleepy child in his arms. He couldn't even begin to deny the beauty of it. He smiled softly.

"Sometimes. Did you have fun?" He stood up, moving to Jack and gently pulling Jordan free of the man. He smiled when he got a loose hug that turned into a snuggle. Ianto would be willing to bet he would be asleep in the next five minutes.

"Oh, we had a blast." Jack moved ahead of him, taking the chair Ianto had just left. "We went to the park, then to McDonalds and played at their park, after eating horribly greasy food. Then we went to the pool, and splashed everyone who walked by."

"Oh, you didn't!" Ianto looked slightly horrified as he leaned on the desk. "You can give him a bath from now on. He'll be splashing everyone now, you wait and see."

Jack leaned forward. "Can I give his father a bath too?"

Ianto blushed, looking away. "I do hope you bath yourself," he deadpanned.

"His other father…?" Jack pushed.

"Can bath himself." Ianto looked back, but wouldn't meet Jack's eyes. "Have you found a place to live yet?"

"Nah." Jack leaned back letting the subject drop. "Don't really need one. I've lived in my fair share of houses, no real interest in buying another one. I usually feel more at home here anyway. Just have to convert one of the unused rooms into a little sleeping area for me."

Ianto nodded, not about to argue with the man. There really wasn't much point, Jack usually got his own way.

"Where do you live?" Jack asked, eying Ianto and the baby. He imagined the man had to pack up and move every year, having a child that didn't grow.

"Would you like to see it?" Ianto blurted out, and nearly kicked himself afterwards. He could hardly claim to be trying to distance himself when he was asking Jack to his flat within the first week.

Jack, on the other hand, was grinning like Christmas had come on his birthday. "Oh yeah." He stood up. "A good slow day for it too. Mica said nothing's predicted all day. Is she our tech girl?"

"No." Ianto shook his head. "I mean, she's not by any means slow at a computer, but she's no whiz at it. Believe it or not, Katie is." Ianto smiled. "Who would have thought a child of Gwen's could be good on the computer. David is decent at it too, but Katie's better. Neither is even close to Tosh's level though." He fidgeted. "Right, well, I suppose we should go. It'll be good for Jordan to nap in his own bed. He rarely gets to."

Jack stood up, "Lead the way." He raised a hand to the door and Ianto quickly walked out of the room, heading out of the archives. He stopped briefly to tell Martha he was taking Jack to his flat so he could see the stuff he had for Jordan, she smirked and nodded.

Jordan fussed a bit when he was put into a car seat, but Ianto ignored him, fully expecting the child to be asleep before they got the flat, which wasn't a 5 minute drive away. He made a point not to look at Jack as he drove, but he could tell by the itch behind his ears that Jack hadn't stopped staring at him. He turned onto a side street leading them up between two rows of worn out warehouse buildings, and parked the car.

Jack was a bit slow getting out, looking around him in surprise. "You live in a…warehouse?"  
Ianto pulled Jordan out of the car, slightly surprised to see the boy's eyes still half-open. "Did you expect a small, quaint little home? People would notice a baby that doesn't age after the first 2 months." He tsked, and pointed to a particularly bad building, that looked like a place even the homeless wouldn't live. "We live there."

Jack made a face. "There? Maybe I ought to get a place, somewhere at least structurally sound… You could stay there — when I'm not." His head tilted still making a face that Ianto couldn't help but laugh at.

"It is perfectly structurally sound." He headed forward. "I live upstairs."

"Is the floor stable?" Jack asked following.

"Yes, Jack," Ianto said in exasperation, going behind the building and heading up a flight of metal stairs.

"You should know better than to judge things on their outward appearance. Look at you. You look 45, but —"

"I do not look 45!" Jack said outraged, quickly trying to see his looks in the grimy windows as the climbed the stairs.

"Alright, 42," Ianto said in all seriousness.

Jack gave him a dirty look, clearly pouting.

Ianto smiled, unlocking the thick door and walking into his very familiar flat. To the left of him was a counter; to the right was a little waist-height dividing wall. On the other side of the dividing wall was the dining area, and of course on the other side of the counter there was a fairly large open kitchen. The kitchen had a utilitarian tiled floor, the dining room dark wood floorboards to match the dark wood dining furniture. It opened up into the living room that had posh looking leather couches and a large T.V., while the ceiling in the living room was high, accommodating the vaulted windows.

"This is obviously the kitchen." He moved forward. "Living room, and dining area." He nodded to each one in turn. "On the other side of the kitchen is a small family room. My room is connected to that." He made no move to go toward that area of the flat, instead moving forward into the living room and nodding down a small hallway that contained two doors. "The one on the end is the guest bathroom." He opened the door to the other room, revealing a bedroom that was clearly Jordan's. There was a bed that couldn't quite be called a crib any more, but also wasn't quite a toddler bed either, and a small love seat was pushed up against one wall next to a bookcase full of books. A toy box and dresser took up most of the other wall. The room was perfectly tidy. Ianto moved into the room laying Jordan down on the bed and covering him up. He leaned down, brushing the child's hair back and kissing him softly on the head before leaving the room.

Jack was standing at the doorway, watching him with a slightly odd expression. Ianto gave him a small smile as he passed him, heading for the fridge. Beers were needed right about now.

"Ianto, how are you, really?" Jack asked, following him at a distance.

"Alright. Can't complain." He handed Jack a beer, moving to the couch, but was stopped by a restraining hand on his stomach.

"No, I mean really? Twenty-two years of living with a baby, all on your own."

Ianto couldn't help the small snort that escaped his mouth. "Are you honestly going to make this into some drippy T.V. drama?" He turned meeting Jack's stare. "I'm fine, Jack. I coped. It's what people do, we adapt and cope. Plus, I was hardly on my own. I had to kick both Gwen and Martha out on more than one occasion… And the baby was the easy part." He raised the beer taking a deep drink. "The pregnancy on the other hand…" He shivered, moving away from Jack over to the couch where he sat down with a sigh.

Jack hesitated a moment before joining him and sitting a bit closer than Ianto would have liked. "I know you, Ianto. You don't just cope; you thrive. You perfect. That's who you are, and that's what worries me. You've always taken too much on your plate. You were our tea boy, but did far more work and longer hours than everyone else. Gwen and Martha might have been here for you, but I doubt you actually let them help. I bet they had to threaten and guilt trip you into letting them care for Jordan for even a day. Which, judging by how antsy you were when I got in with him, I'd say didn't happen much."

Ianto gave a slight sigh, taking another longer drink from the beer. "What is it you want me to say, Jack? Want me to throw a little hissy, throw things about? Yell and punch walls?"

"Maybe I do." Jack set his untouched beer down. Ianto leaned forward putting it onto a coaster.

"Well, too bad. There's nothing to have a fit about. I have a beautiful son, a nice flat, and a very long, promising future. Why would I complain?"

"You shouldn't have had to do it alone."

Ianto groaned. "Jack, I am not going to have a row with you just so you can get over the fact that you're feeling guilty. Yes, you left, Jack. You did, and perhaps I am a bit mad at that. But that's hardly fair because as you said, I was dead. You had no way to know I'd be popping back up. Certainly no way to know I would be also popping out your kid. You're a lot of things Jack, but psychic isn't one of them. Though I will yell at you for leaving Gwen if you like, I think it's fair to say she wouldn't mind me doing that for her."

Jack remained silent, which was unnerving to Ianto — Jack was never silent.

"Tell me about him?" He finally asked softly.

Ianto leaned back, relaxing slightly. "Well, he got your looks, but he got my brain, remembers just about anything, he does. He's usually easy going, hardly ever fusses, well, least not anymore. Of course, when he does have a meltdown it's a bloody giant: screams bloody murder, stomps about, throws, kicks, he even bites. He's a dirty player then." He smiled fondly at the thought, Jordan's temper tantrums had always slightly reminded him of Jack when he was really pissed at an alien. "He loves dragons, you might have noticed all the pictures of them in his room, most of his books have something to do with them too. He'll pick them over almost anything, you could offer him a solar-firing-never-ending squirt gun that can fire front and back ways or a tiny little toy dragon and he'll take the dragon every time. His favorite movie is 'How to Train your Dragon'. He's seen it so many times I can recite it." He shook his head. "Don't know where the desire for them came from, but it's there nonetheless."

Ianto stopped talking when he felt a hand on his cheek; his eyes quickly looking to Jack. Jack was staring at him in a way he had never seen before. Jack started leaning forward and Ianto's heart started thumping. He knew he should pull away, hell, he wanted to pull away, but he couldn't for the life of him move an inch. Not a bloody inch. His eyes closed, but snapped open again when he felt Jack kiss him, not on the lips, but on his forehead.

Jack sat back into the couch patting Ianto's knee with a slight sigh. "Don't suppose I could talk you into a date?" He said it as a question, but they both already knew the answer.

"No," Ianto stated firmly. "Not yet, not now. It's nothing personal… I just can't." He wasn't sure he could handle it if Jack did leave again, and it was an entirely unfair thought, especially after just telling the man he didn't blame him. What was worse was that he very much wished he could have said yes.

"I know." Jack nodded. "Are you… ok with the living forever?" The man looked slightly ill saying the words, Ianto knew this was the last thing he'd ever wish on anyone.

"I suppose so, at least I think I am. I won't live forever though, and neither will you." Ianto stated as Jack eyed him critically. "The Doctor said he was with you when you died for your final time. I won't live nearly as long as you, neither will Jordan. We don't have the 'original' life energy that was put into you, and ours was halved on top of that. I've died one other time besides the 456, and it took me 3 days to come back. It was a broken neck. My wounds don't knit up as quickly as yours do either. I was shot last year and it didn't seem to speed up at all to me. Martha said it did, that normally I would have had to do physical therapy, given where it lodged." He shrugged, growing quiet. They both at in silence. It wasn't the nice comfortable silence, it was that horrid awkward silence that made both people want to get up and leave. Finally Ianto cleared his throat. "So, what about you? See any wondrous sights while you were gone?"

"Nope."

Ianto's jaw almost dropped at the one worded answer. Jack, Mr. I-got-a-five-hour-story-for-every-hour-of-my-life, just said 'nope'? "Nope?" He said slowly. "No… exciting tales, or disgusting stories of dirty lovers?"

Jack smirked a bit. "Weeelll." He grinned, and just like that Ianto could feel the tension between them ease up dramatically. "There was this one girl, least I think it was a girl. Never did learn her species, she was like nothing I had ever seen! Four breasts, three antlers and skin so brightly green she literally lit up a room! But what was really amazing about her was her mouth, or mouths, two of them one right inside the other, with two sets of teeth and two very naughty tongues." He laughed. "I'd have liked to know where she was from so I could go visit that place."

Ianto smiled, relaxing, listening to Jack ramble on about the girl. This was the Jack he loved, the carefree Jack that could laugh at anything and everything. He respected Jack's harder side, perhaps even slightly saw that side as his hero, but the carefree part was the side of him he loved. Of course he was also just glad to pull Jack out of his moping. Jack's moods were well known as being all over the place, his conversations moving from one topic to another before anyone could notice. Jack had the purest and most intensive case of ADHD Ianto had ever witnessed.

"…And you would not believe the amount of fingers she had, and toes… oh, those toes! I never knew a toe could do the things it did! I tell you, the human race is missing out on the various abilities of toes. Of course I think she might have been spoken for. I woke to a very angry pink-skinned man. It was the quickest death I think I've ever had." He laughed. "Woke to them screaming at each other, and they were more than a bit shocked when I stood up. Of course they both didn't mind much later." He grinned.

Ianto groaned. "You seduced him too, didn't you?"

"What?" Jack said defensively. "He was hot for a pink alien, plus he had two mouths too." His grin grew wider. "Though he wasn't nearly as talented with his toes."

"Oh well, you've got to drop that one then. What's the point if they aren't talented with their toes?" Ianto asked straight-faced.

Jack laughed. "I missed that!" He slung his arm over Ianto's shoulder. "That dry humor of yours." He sighed in a more content way, growing silent again, though this silence at least wasn't suffocating as the last one had been. "Ianto?" Jack finally spoke up. "Do I really look 42?"

* * *

A.N. So that's this chapter, let me know what you think. Anyone have a book preference they'd like to see a quote from? I don't have the books that are solely on tape, so please don't pick one of those. Though I really want to get the one that's read by Gareth David Lloyd, told listening to it is near orgasmic.


	5. Chapter 4

A.N. This chapter took on a life of its own. I wasn't really sure where to take it, I have a general direction but I don't really have any defined direction, but sometimes the best stories are like that. You never know what to expect. Still if anyone has any idea's let me know. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed, they really do make me smile.

I'm still in _desperate_ need of a Beta if anyone is willing to take the job.

Weekly Quote:

_Jack pushed his way past Rob and Julia, dropping to his haunches by Ianto._

'_Hi there, frigid,' he said with a smile._

'_Sod off,' Ianto stutter, 'and get something to warm me up.'_

'_Now may not be the time or place…' Jack turned to Rob and Julia. 'Got any alcohol?'_

(The House That Jack Built, pg 106)

* * *

Unpleasant or Extraordinary  
By Wildfire  
Chapter Four

Jack groaned as he slowly came to, the air thick with dust. He coughed, the erupting pain from his chest telling him he'd only been knocked unconscious and not killed. He tried to sit up, only to realize something heavy was lying over his legs, pinning him to the ground. He tried to move to see if he could wiggle free, and was rewarded with another burst of agony. He twisted his head about, trying to see where he was. He couldn't see anything though, it was completely dark, but he could hear steady dripping from above.

He groaned, his mind trying to remember what had happened. It had started out as a slow day; he was at the park with Jordan. How did he get here? For a brief moment he was terrified Jordan would be with him, but then he recalled handing the boy over to Katie. He couldn't remember why he was here though.

But he could remember the park…

**~~TX~~**

Jack sat on a bench watching Jordan play in the sand. He looked like he was in the process of trying to dig to China, but unfortunately his little feet kept knocking sand back into the hole. He smiled when the little boy buried his hand, laughing as he tried to pack the dirt onto it. For such a simple thing the child seemed to be having a blast, but then again Ianto probably didn't allow him to get dirty too much.

He and Ianto had reached a common truce; Jack had unlimited access to Jordan, but very limited access to Ianto. They talked, but nothing past a common friendship, any flirting on Jack's part was completely ignored. It disturbed him to no end. Even if Ianto wouldn't date him it didn't mean they couldn't have their flirting. Flirting with Ianto had been one of his favorite things about the man, as he could come up with such great comebacks. Of course, it was entirely possible that Ianto just wasn't like that anymore, a person could change in a year, let alone thirty.

He chuckled as Jordan switched to trying to bury his feet. He really was an incredible child, completely adorable in every way. It was possible he was a bit biased, but he was sure the child was perfect. Of course he recalled having similar thoughts about Alice at this age.

"How old is he?" Jack turned to see a pretty little slip of a woman; she held the hand of a child of about 3.

"18 months," Jack responded, holding his hand out to her. "I'm Jack."

She took it with a large grin. "I'm Jenna, this is Becka. She's about 2 and a half." She sat down beside Jack. "Becka go play, but stay where I can see you, yeah?"

"Yes, mummy." The child darted straight for the slides.

.  
"She's the love of my life, she is." She grinned. "Her sperm donor took off a week after her birth. I don't mind though, her and me, we make a damn good team," she said bluntly.

Jack nodded, not bothering to wonder why this woman would be telling him something so personal. Travelling in space he'd dealt with people that would upload their entire history into your brain the moment you met. "Well, I imagine anyone would make a good team with someone like you." He leered a bit, grinning.

"Oi, your girlfriend must have fun trying to keep you in line," she said, eyeing him up and down.

Jack grinned. "Well, I keep everyone on their toes. Part of my charm."

Jordan toddled over looking up at the woman before looking to Jack. "There's poop over there." He pointed backwards.

"Is there? Did ya touch it?" He laughed at Jordan's shocked face as he quickly shook his head 'no'. "No don't suppose you did. Well, if you didn't touch it, I suppose it's alright to leave it there."

"But someone might step in it." Jordan looked back towards the park. "Tad cleans it up."

"Your tad cleans everything up," Jack mumbled, then sighed. "Alright, let's clean it up." He looked to the woman. "Jenna, it's been a pleasure. You have a wonderful day." His eyes swept over her again, before picking Jordan up and heading toward where the boy pointed. "So where's this pooh?"

Jordan giggled and pointed, seemingly delighted to make Jack do this.

Jack got to the pile, hoping for some simple dry cat crap, but no, it was a rather large pile, probably made by a large dog. He sighed.

"You know, I'm sure whoever's dog this is will come get it later. We should probably leave it so they don't spend time looking for it."

Jordan frowned at him.

Jack sighed once more. "Not buying that, huh?" He looked around. "I don't really have anything to pick it up with." He wandered over to a garbage bin, looking into it and pulling out a plastic bag, grimacing as he shook it free of the other garbage. "You know, I'm going to have to talk to your tad about being too neat." He set the boy down, going over and quickly scooping the pile up and throwing it away. "Happy now?"

Jordan grinned raising his arms up again, and Jack picked him up swiftly. "Thank you." The boy kissed Jack's cheek with sloppy lips.

"You're welcome," Jack smiled. "Shall we go see if we can find somewhere to eat that your tad would disapprove of?"

"Yeah!" Jordan giggled. "With chips!"

"Oh yeah, big greasy chips." Jack's phone rang and he pulled it free. "Yeah?"

_'Jack,'_ Martha said. '_We have a situation. An object came through the rift and Ianto took Mica and David down to get it. It looked fairly large but not alive. Ianto-"_

"Martha," Jack interrupted. "What happened?"

_"The building exploded, we have contact with David and he is alright, but trapped. We haven't heard anything from Mica or Ianto. Katie's already on location, and I'm on my way, but Katie said she can't find a way in."_

"Send me the coordinates and I'll be there soon." He clicked the phone off looking down at Jordan. "Sounds like your tad needs to be saved, wanna help?"

"Yeah!" He looked pretty excited at the idea.

"Good." He jogged over to the new car he had been given; it looked vaguely like an SUV, but was so very different. For one, it ran off water. When he was out of 'gas' he refilled at a station with specialized car water. The inside was pretty incredible itself, the seats molded to the body, and Jordan's car seat had been converted so it sat in the car with very little notice. The part he loved the best was that there were no keys, none, everything was voice activated. He could have an actual conversation with his car.

He strapped Jordan in, handing him a stuffed dragon before jumping into the car himself. Martha had already uploaded the location to the vehicle so all Jack had to do was steer and set the over ride to break the speed limit. He couldn't believe it when Ianto had given him the over ride code to go over the speed limit. Apparently, cars had a microchip that read the current speed limit and didn't allow a car to go over it. Jack had been more than happy to get that code.

He pulled the car up outside a building that was demolished except for one small area; Jack was amazed anyone was alive. His throat constricted as he thought of Ianto lying under that mess. He pulled Jordan from the car seat, handing him vaguely over to Katie.

"Do we have a point of entrance?" Jack asked.

"No, but we've been talking with David, he's in that part that hasn't collapsed. He's completely blocked in though, so there's no way to get to him. Martha's called in some favors to try and hurry the clean up, but we've no contact with Mica or Ianto." She fidgeted holding Jordan closer. "If we start moving things too much we could inadvertently crush them."

Jack nodded. "I'm going to find a way in; it looks like certain parts are high enough that I might be able to squeeze through."

"Then we'll just have another person stuck. That's a horrible idea."

"Perhaps, but I can't die, I'm the best person to go in." He shrugged off his coat, tossing it over the top of the car. He headed toward the wreckage; he started carefully, walking around the destroyed building, trying to spot a place he might be able to squeeze through.

He was halfway around the building when he finally spotted a gap that looked like it might be big enough to wiggle into. He inched forward, trying to push some of the bigger rocks away, as he army-crawled into the wreckage.

He yelled both Ianto's and Mica's names in hope of getting some general direction to crawl towards. So far all he'd gotten for it was a mouth full of thick dust. His forearms and knees were quickly torn up as he crawled over the sharp rocks and broken glass. He wondered what had happened to the nice day, where his biggest worry was the dog crap his son wanted him to pick up? He called out Ianto's name again, pausing to listen for any response — Nothing.

Jack wasn't sure how long he'd been crawling along before the whole building started shaking. His stomach dropped as he realized the building was about to fully collapse and he was about to loose another life.

~~**TW**~~

As a drop of water landed on Jack's face, he swiped it off, which just spread more dirt down his cheek. He wasn't sure how long he'd been laying there pinned, but he felt rather ridiculous. He had come in to find people and now needed to be found himself. He couldn't really feel his legs at all, and he wasn't looking forward to the healing process that would take.

He turned his head to the side just in time to catch another drip on his cheek, not even bothering to even wipe this one off. He tapped one finger with annoyance; lying there pinned down was incredibly boring. He closed his eyes, feeling the drips of water that landed on his cheek, counting them. It was a boring way to keep time, but it was better than doing nothing. Anything was better than just lying there.

Counting drips soon became much more of an annoyance than a distraction. Each drip that splattered on his cheek was annoying and made him jerk slightly; they came irregularly so he didn't know when to expect them. It was started to feel a bit like some old-fashioned torture. He tried to scoot his body away from the drips, but then they just landed in his ear. He tried to sit up, but the ceiling was too low for him to even partially rise into an upright position. He let out an irritated huff that turned into a painful cough. He was starting to wonder if they'd have to cut his legs off to get him free. The re-growing of legs sounded horrible. Maybe he could convince Martha to keep him drugged into oblivion while they did it. He gasped as the building shook again, and this time he knew he was dead.

~~**TW**~~

Jack was coming back, he could feel the darkness receding as he approached awareness, but instead of gasping awake, he screamed awake. Everything hurt, blood gurgling into his screams, the pain was unbelievable. He —

He heard a bang and he was gone again.

~~**TW**~~

The next time he awoke it was just with a gasp and slight groan. The lights above him far too bright, his body seemed to throb to their hum. He tried to sit up, but a hand pressed him firmly back down. He looked up, and for a moment he thought Gwen was there — then he remembered.

"Katie." He croaked out. "What happened?"

"You're a moron, you are. That's what happened." She sat down in a chair beside the cot. "The building crushed you, turned you to a big pile of mush. I didn't see how anyone could come back from that, no way. But Ianto said you came back from being blown up once, so you could come back from this too. 'Course I didn't really believe him, I mean you were really just mush. It was really gross, I'm not really sure how they knew it was you."

Jack nodded tentatively. "Everyone alright then?"

"Mica's got a cast up to her hip and is raving mad, David's a bit scratched up, and Ianto crushed his arm; nothing too serious for any of them. Martha said Ianto's arm should be fully healed in about a month. Mica will take a _bit_ longer." She giggled. "She's so mad. Martha put her on desk duties. You've been out for almost a week now, came back a few days ago. Ianto marched in here and shot you in the head, then walked back out. Didn't say a single word. It was a bit creepy actually."

Jack nodded. "I appreciated it, is he here?"

"No, he took Jordan home over an hour ago. Jordan's been a right state since you became unavailable. Ianto obviously wouldn't let him see you in those early days. Boy, can that kid scream. He actually bit Ianto, hard enough to draw blood. If I'd been Ianto I would have back-handed him, not on purpose mind you, it would have just been automatic. Not Ianto though, he just pried him off then gave him a good spanking, made him sit on the couch for a bit. Not that it was over. Even when he started being able to see you, from a distance, he was still rotten. Throwing hysterics over the smallest of things. You've only been here a bit, but he's decided you'd better be here all the time. Got right attached to you. I think Ianto might just give him to you after this week, and the constant screaming." She shook her head.

Jack smiled, listening to the woman talk. She loved to talk, he was pretty sure she'd talk from dawn till dusk if people let her. "Hard to imagine him doing that."

"Who? Jordan throwing his hissy's, or Ianto handing him over? Either way you wouldn't say that if you had been awake — er, alive for this last week. Never heard a child scream so; he broke three computer monitors. Three! I've never seen Ianto get so mad either. Not that he yelled. I don't think I've ever seen Ianto yell, not once. Have you?"

Jack sat up a fraction, and Katie readjusted his pillows so he could lean against them. "Yeah. Oh, yeah," he nodded with a small smile, remembering.

"Tell me about it?" She leaned forward eyes wide.

"Well, it was our first official date. We'd just finished defeating these lights that lived within the rift and were supposed to go out to this little bistro…"

_Jack raced down the steps. "Ianto." He called out, watching the other man get up going right to him. "I just got a lead on some potential alien trash that's being dumped in an old house. It's by a park though, so I thought once we're done…" He waggled his eyebrows at him._

"_We have reservations," Ianto reminded him in a calm voice. "Owen can check the house."_

"_Nah, I already gave Owen the night off. It's not fair of me to call him in just so we can go out. Plus, it won't take long. We just have to go in and pack it up. And then —" He grabbed Ianto by his waist pulling him flush. "Then, I am all yours." He leaned forward to kiss the man, but Ianto pulled away, with a stern look._

"_We have reservations," he repeated, slightly more forcefully. "Owen does not have _scheduled_ time off. He can take care of it."_

_Jack frowned, crossing his arms. "Ianto, I can't call people in just because you want to go out. That's showing favoritism, just because we —"_

"_Stop!" Ianto said firmly. "Don't you DARE, say what you're about to. Because I swear to any god that'll listen that if you DO, I will shot you in both of your heads."_

"_Ianto." Jack stood straighter, glaring now. "You are being completely unreasonable. We're here, it's only natural —"_

"_WE'RE ALWAYS HERE!" Ianto once again interrupted, and Jack was so shocked at the yell that he didn't even call him on it. "We are ALWAYS bloody here! WE have reservations, we are going OUT! Damn it Jack. Favoritism! Not for me, I work twice the amount of time Owen does, HELL I work twice the amount that Tosh does! You let _them_ go home early, but I'm still here. Still working with you! You WILL bloody call Owen and we WILL go out. I deserve one night out! ONE! I am not asking any more Jack, you _are_ taking me out!" Ianto stormed out of the Hub, the cog door rolling shut behind him._

_Jack stood there for a few minutes completely bewildered. He'd thought Ianto might get upset at him changing the night a bit, but he hadn't expected this. He pulled his cell out, dialing up Owen. Surprisingly he got very little snark from the man. Jack went up to the Tourist Office, eyeing the man bent over the desk, and for once not in an erotic way. _

"_I'm sorry." Ianto's accent was thicker than normal, and Jack felt like an even bigger ass._

"_Don't be, you're right. I did promise you a date, a real date. I called Owen. You still want to go out?" Jack stepped forward laying a hand on the younger man's shoulder, Ianto turned grasping a hold of Jack's shirt and pressing his forehead into Jack's neck._

"_I'd sound a bit mental having a fit like that, then wanting to stay in." He spoke softly. "Yes, Jack. I would really like it if you took me on that date."_

Jack grinned at the memory, which had ended in a rather great night. "…And to this day, living as long as I have, facing some of the ugliest, biggest aliens you could ever imagine, I still say there is nothing more intimidating that an angry Welshman!"


	6. Chapter 5

A.N. First off I want to thank my new two fabulous beta's! Little Sweet Pea and whovianbard. These two brave souls have offered to beta my work to keep you guys from having to read my horrid grammar. The Prelude and Chapter one have been re-posted and are now much easier to read. They have my eternal thanks!

So second, in the last chapter a lot of you mentioned that you liked the flashback, but right now you wanted to see more Jack and Ianto in the now. As such this whole chapter is devoted to our two very hot boys. I did notice that some were interested in seeing a flashback from Ianto's five year pregnancy, so you might want to look for that in later chapter.

Quote of the week:

_Disconnecting, he checked his watch again. Five minutes to go._

'_I don't mind going back to the Hub and wearing the white coat.' Standing still in front of the alter, Ianto looked nervous, one hand tugging at the sleeve of his shirt._

'_You look best in a suit.' Jack winked._

'_I thought you'd say something like that. Is it time?'_

'_Couple more minutes.' He pressed his earpiece again. 'Cutler?'_

(Into the Silence. pg, 197)

* * *

Unpleasant or Extraordinary  
By Wildfire  
Chapter Five

Ianto sat on his couch, eating a sandwich; Jordan sat screaming in front of him. The child was throwing a fit because he wasn't allowed to watch his movie. Ianto was currently running the scans on any news items that had come in during the day. The computer would automatically file them into one of four folders: benign, unlikely, possible, and dangerous. The last two were the only ones they ever looked at unless something particular spiked. He ran this damn scan every night, Jordan knew it had to be run every night; and yet there he was, still screaming and having a bloody fit.

Ianto sighed, his head was screaming at him in response to Jordan's screaming, and his arm was still throbbing. He looked down at the odd cast that covered his arm from mid-bicep to all the way over his fingers. Martha had assured him he'd have a more 'normal' looking cast next week, so long as his arm didn't look quite so crushed.

Jordan gave a particularly loud high-pitch squeal and Ianto got up, heading to get the dirty laundry. He needed some sort of distraction, no matter how small, as right now he felt like he could cheerfully throttle his son. He loved his son dearly, but this last week had driven him to the edge. The pain from his arm certainly didn't help either.

Martha had given him painkillers. It wasn't that he was too stubborn to take them; they just made him rather dopey, if not knocking him out completely, and while being knocked out sounded like bliss… Another loud scream came from the living room, he sighed wearily once more.

He threw his button-down white shirts into the machine and turned it on. He loved these machines; they washed and dried the whole load in thirty minutes. He leaned against it, listening to its soothing hum, blinking when he realized he couldn't hear any screaming. He hoped that meant Jordan had calmed down. Oh, how he hoped.

He walked back into the living room. The T.V. was showing a blue lost connection screen, and his laptop was lying on the ground, the screen broken. His eyes widened as he went to kneel down over it; it was very dead. He closed his eyes counting to five, trying to breathe evenly. "Jacob-Jordan!" He stood up when the child didn't come out. "Jacob-Jordan, you come here _right_ now!"

Jordan slowly came out from the bathroom, cheeks still red from his fit earlier, head down.

"What happened?" Ianto tried to keep his voice level though it wasn't easy.

"It fell," he whispered.

"It fell? It just decided to topple off the couch, and the screen just naturally broke right in the center, yeah?"

Jordan nodded slowly.

"Jordan, do not lie."

"It fell," he repeated.

Ianto ran his hand over his face his temper quickly rising. "Shall I go check the CCTV then?" Jordan quickly shook his head 'no'. "Then will you tell me the truth?"

Jordan remained quiet.

"Alright, fine. You can go into time-out until you want to tell me the truth."

That sent the child into hysterics all over again. Ianto went over and, picking Jordan up one-handed around his waist, took him to his room, setting him on a small chair. "You will stay here until I come get you, and then you _will_ tell me the truth." He walked out of the room leaving the door open just a crack.

He leaned against the wall outside the room, his hand coming up to his face again, noticing he was shaking slightly. He wasn't sure if he was shaking because he was angry, or if it was because he was just at a loss of what to do. He jumped when there was a knock on his door, and he stood up expecting Martha or maybe his sister. He was rather surprised when he saw Jack standing there, perfectly healed.

"Hey," Jack grinned. "Katie said you hurt your arm." He gestured to the odd cast, looking around Ianto at the screaming coming from Jordan's bedroom. "Having trouble?"

"It's fine," Ianto snapped slightly. "He's fine."

"Oh, I have no doubt about him. Can I come in?" Ianto stepped aside to allow Jack entrance, shutting the door firmly behind him.

The crying stopped and Jordan's door opened, while the child peered out.

"Get _back_ in there and sit on that chair!" Ianto pointed back into the room, and the child dramatically flopped back onto the ground screaming. Ianto went over, picking him up again and setting him back onto the chair before leaving. This time he made a bee-line for the fridge, pulling out a beer. He looked at it blankly for a moment realizing he had no clue how he was going to open the thing. A pair of arms came from directly behind him, taking the bottle and opening it, before it was handed it back to him; the arms wrapping around him and pulling him against a warm solid form. Ianto didn't even bother to question the warmth of the body behind him. He closed his eyes, relaxing into the once familiar hold.

"You're at your limit," Jack said. It wasn't a question. Ianto gave a small snort and took another sip of his beer. "What'd he do?"

"Broke my computer. He was mad that he couldn't watch his movie right then and there," Ianto growled, his body stiffening up as he made a move to pull away.

Jack tightened his grip, not allowing Ianto such an easy escape.

"He doesn't seem big enough. He looks too innocent." He chuckled. "Takes after his tad like that." He ran his fingertips lightly over Ianto's exposed arm. His other hand went to the cast. "What did Martha put you on?"

"Ty-morphine. I'm supposed to be taking two, three times a day." Ianto recited, slightly automatically.

"Supposed to? Ianto, Katie said your arm was crushed… Tell me you're taking something." Jack pulled back, turning Ianto around to look at him.

Ianto pulled away taking another drink of beer. "I'm not a sadist, Jack. I've taken some normal Tylenol."

"Tylenol? Ianto, you _crushed _your arm. Why aren't you taking the good shit?"

"Because I have a son Jack. A son that relies on me, to feed and care for him. I can't bloody well do that if I'm full of drugs that make me act like a nut case. So yes Jack, I hurt. It _hurts_ very, very much, but I will handle it." Ianto flinched when another high-pitched scream came from Jordan's room; he just had no clue what to do anymore.

Jack watched him. "Alright." He took off his coat, tossing it over the counter and rolling his sleeves up. "Well, he's my son too. So you take those pills, and _I_ will take care of Jordan."

"I'm in the middle of a punishment Jack… It's not good to suddenly have someone else come in." He groaned. "I'll go talk to him, I can handle this. I can deal with my own son," he snapped.

Jack watched him. "Fine, go deal with him then, but when you come out you're taking those pills and I'll stay for a couple days. Keep you from being too loopy. I'll give Martha a call and let her know you're taking time off."

"Jack, I am not-"

"The hell you aren't! I looked at your file before I came here. I know when you _last _took time off. You're taking time off, and _I_ am taking care of you." He waggled his eyebrows at him.

Ianto gave him a flat look as he pushed past him.

"You're sleeping on the couch," he said, going into Jordan's room and sitting down beside the chair where the child sat.

Jordan had stopped screaming when Ianto entered the room, but was still sniffling. He looked over at his tad, slowly.

"I am very angry, Jordan. I want the truth, and an apology." Ianto stared at him.

Jordan sniffled, mumbling.

"I cannot hear you."

"I'm sorry!" he half-yelled.

"For what?" Ianto prodded.

"For lying, and breaking your 'puter." He glared.

"Fine." Ianto stood up. "You have lost all movie and T.V. privileges for the next week. Now… go see Jack." The toddler left the room as quickly as his little legs would carry him, going straight to Jack and lifting his arms.

Jack picked him up, looking to Ianto. Ianto, however, just went into the living room, sitting down with a huff.

"Where are the pills, Ianto?"

"Cabinet over the microwave," came the dull reply.

Jack fetched the pills, keeping Jordan balanced on his hip. He brought the pills over with Ianto's beer.

Ianto took the pills and the beer with a raised eyebrow. "Probably not the best mix," but he swallowed the pills nonetheless.

Jack smiled watching him. "You know, Mr. Jones, you are not able to do everything alone." He sat down beside him, settling Jordan on his lap.

Ianto glared at him slightly. "I was doing fine until my child discovered he had inherited _someone's_ temper and has been testing it out ever since."

Jack felt Jordan clutch his shirt tighter, Jack smiled squeezing him slightly. "Your tad has a temper too, don't let him fool you."

Jordan quickly looked to his tad, eyes a bit wide.

"Jack likes to lie," Ianto retorted.

"I do not!" Jack said in mock outrage, before looking at Jordan. "I do not lie."

Ianto nodded a bit too emphatically. "Do too." His voice was getting thicker and Jack had to smile, the pills were apparently fast-acting. Ianto leaned forward. "Jordan needs to eat dinner. He never ate his 'cause he was throwing a little hissy." He made to stand up, and Jack quickly pushed him back down.

"Don't think you should be around the kitchen items. I'll get it." He stood up, turning to set Jordan on the couch, and headed into the kitchen.

Ianto smiled, tilting his head as he watched Jack's retreating backside.

"Tad?"

The little voice instantly had Ianto's attention, and he turned his head to Jordan. "Yes, Jordan?"

He sniffled. "You still love me?"

That helped clear Ianto's mind. He patted his lap and Jordan quickly clambered over to it. He wrapped his arm tightly around the child. "Jordan, I will always love you." He brushed the boy's hair back, his thumb gently wiping under the boy's eyes. "No matter how mad or upset I get, I will always love you. Nobody's perfect all the time, cariad. I don't expect you to be perfect, you're allowed to make mistakes and… muck up. You're allowed to be _rubbish._ It happens." He smiled.

"Was I rubbish today?" Jordan asked, his small hands clutching Ianto's shirt.

"Oh, complete rubbish, utter rubbish, you were." Ianto nodded, then seemed to catch himself. "But that doesn't change how much I love you. I like it when you behave and listen to me, but I'll love you no matter what."

"Even if I broke the T.V.?"

Ianto looked to the T.V. as if to check that it was in fact, not broken, then looked to Jordan. "Even if you broke the T.V."

"The car?"

"Still love you," Ianto smiled, kissing the top of Jordan's head.

"Jordan, your dinner's ready." Jack came in, gently pulling him free from Ianto.

Ianto watched as Jack put him in the high chair, only taking a moment to figure the contraption out. He handed the boy a fork and put the plate of cut-up food on it.

"Thank you," the boy whispered, already stuffing his face.

Jack smiled. "You're welcome." He pulled a chair out from the table so he could watch both Jordan and Ianto at the same time.

"It's bedtime when he's done," Ianto half-slurred. "Jack?"

"Yes, Ianto?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing." Ianto was looking about with slightly round eyes.

Jack smiled, not only at Ianto, but at Jordan who was suddenly looking confused and trying to peer around his chair to get a look at his tad.

The silence lasted all of about two minutes. "Jack?" Ianto called out again.

"Yes, Ianto," Jack repeated, watching the other man with enormous glee.

Ianto looked at him, smiling rather broadly. "I'm glad you're home."

Jack laughed. "I'll remind you of that next time you want to kill me."

Ianto just continued to grin. "I won't like that," he stated, then giggled. "But at least my arm doesn't hurt anymore."

Jack nodded, looking over at Jordan who looked like the day of crying had finally caught up with him. The boy yawned with half-lidded eyes. Jack cleared the tray, before picking the sleepy child up and taking him to the bedroom. It took him a minute to track down the right drawer for PJ's and another couple of minutes to change the child before tucking him into the bed, giving him a light kiss on his forehead.

When he came out he was slightly shocked that Ianto was no longer on the couch. "Ianto?"

In response he heard the Welsh man start to sing. Jack decided right then that he was going to have to try these pills some time. He followed the noise, and came to Ianto in a little closet off the family room pulling white clothing from what Jack assumed was a washing machine. "Ianto, what are you doing?"

"Laundry, if you don't take them out when they're done they wrinkle all up, and get wrinkly. Is that a word? Wrinkly?" He shrugged, pulling out another shirt and trying to fold it mid-air - one handed.

"Ianto, as adorable as you are like this, you're swaying more than a kite on a windy day, and you're making me rather nervous." He came forward gently, leading the man from the closet. "Perhaps bed would be a good idea for you as well?"

In response Ianto leaned heavily into him, forcing Jack to take a step back to keep his balance. His hands clasped onto Ianto's upper arms. "I missed you, Jack."

Jack combed his fingers through the man's hair. "I know."

"Didn't you miss me? Even a bit?" Ianto looked up at him, his eyes wide and pleading.

"Very much so, but it was a bit different for me. I thought you were dead." He brushed his thumb over Ianto's beautiful cheek bone. "I was mourning you."

"You mourned me?" Ianto's eyes suddenly looked rather watery. "Really?"

Jack chuckled. "I can see why you don't like to take these pills. And yes Ianto, of course I mourned you." He started leading the man towards where he assumed the bedroom would be. He was relieved to open the door to the correct room; it was a nice room, nicely decorated, perfectly clean.

"How many lovers did you have when you were away?" Ianto asked, as Jack gently pushed him onto the bed and set to undoing the younger man's pants.

"Ianto…"

"I had ten," Ianto admitted, and Jack looked up at him in surprise, "What? You didn't think I was celibate this whole time, did you? Pft, please Jack, I might be proper, but I still can't go thirty-something years on nothing. None of them were as good as you though." He sighed and Jack took the opportunity to push him into lying down so he could slip the pants off. "You remember that thing you do with your tongue? I _loved_ that." Ianto sat back up, his hand reaching up to gently cup the man's cheek. "You wouldn't let me love you."

Jack gave the man a small smile, and hooked his hand under the hem of Ianto's shirt, gently pulling it off him, though it took him a minute to work the fabric over the cast. "You could have done better than me."

Ianto grinned. "Might have deserved someone better, but as there isn't anyone better than you here. And I don't plan to go to another planet…" He shrugged. "Sometimes a man has to settle," he teased. Jack chuckled and pushed Ianto back to laying down, pulling the covers free and over the man.

Jack started to leave the room, but Ianto grabbed his wrist.

"Ianto… I'm just going into the living room. Sleeping on the couch, remember?"

"Stay." Ianto gave the wrist a small tug. "Please."

"You'll be angry in the morning," Jack said softly.

Ianto nodded. "Yep, but you always think I look hot when I'm angry."

Jack grinned. "I think you look hot anytime," he countered, but toed off his shoes and removed his dress shirt so he was in his slacks and under shirt, before climbing into the bed. Ianto immediately cuddled into him, and Jack was more than happy to wrap his arms around him.

Ianto tilted his head up giving him a small chaste kiss before settling down. Jack watched him sleep, combing his fingers once more through the slightly curly hair, and sighed in rare contentment.

* * *

Reviews are loved!


	7. Chapter 6

A.N. Sorry about the delay for this chapter, I'm going out of town and had to get everything ready this last week. This chapter is a bit of a filler chapter, it's cute but mostly it's helping set up for future plot bunnies. They've gotten a bit aggressive in the last few days; hopefully I can appease them soon. Hope you like this chapter. Later.

Wildfire

TW Quote of the Week:

_Jack felt the wheelchair start to move briskly along the tarmac path and away from the scene. He turned awkwardly to ask Owen to take it easy. Owen was several meters away and watching the wheelchair propel itself away from him and up the gradient of the walkway._

_The chair stopped, turned slightly, and applied its own brakes._

_Jack sensed the gentle touch of a warm hand stroking his neck tenderly. Hot breath against his face. The soft caress of lips, the insistent pressure of an exploratory tongue parting his lips and flicking over his teeth. He'd know that kiss anywhere. He closed his eyes and surrendered to it. After a moment, he was finally able to gasp: 'Ianto!'_

(Pack Animals, pg 142)

Unpleasant or Extraordinary  
By Wildfire  
Chapter Six

The sunlight cascaded in through the open windows shining light into the dark room. Two figures lay cuddled together, laying in an easy sleep. As the sun streamed across their faces, one set of eyes jerked open.

Jack gave a start of amazement as he awoke. Not because the light had woken him, but because he had actually been asleep at all. His eyes drifted over the room; Ianto's room. He looked down at the form that was quite literally thrown over the top of him. He smiled. There were very few times when you could see an imperfect Ianto Jones, but asleep was one of them. The man's head was resting on his chest, where his open mouth had released a rather large pool of drool; every once in a while a deep snore would also escape from between his lips. Ianto's arm was thrown over the top of his head, resting against Jack's shoulder. His other arm, trapped within the cast, lay on top of Jack's arm. Jack could feel one of Ianto's legs wrapped around one of his, and he had to smile. People had sometimes accused Jack of being an octopus when sleeping, but he had nothing on Ianto Jones.

Of course as cute as it was lying under the large Welsh man, it also made it impossible to sneak away in the mornings. No matter how careful he was trying to be, he knew he'd wake the man beside him.

Well, since there was no point anyway… Jack bolted out of bed throwing Ianto across the bed in the process. A low grumbling is all he received in reply as he exited the room. He headed into the kitchen, grabbing the bottle of pills Ianto was suppose to be taking and shook one out, deciding he didn't need Ianto to be that out of it again. He made a mental note to talk to Martha about lowering the amount she was prescribing Ianto.

The sound of little feet pattering into the kitchen let Jack know he wasn't alone. Well, at least not all Jones' were hard to wake up. He turned around smiling at the sleepy-eyed boy.

The child gave him a small smile; he was carrying a stuffed dragon. He pointed back toward the hallway.

"What?" Jack came to look down the hallway, but didn't see anything. "What?" he repeated looking at the child.

Jordan half covered his face with the dragon before running down the hallway to the bathroom and pointing up at the light.

"Ahh, gotcha." He came forward flicking it on. "There y'are…" He paused. "Do you need any other help?"

Jordan shook his head 'no', already starting to strip. Jack smiled, leaving the child to it. He re-entered the kitchen and had to fight the laugh that nearly erupted from his mouth. Ianto had emerged from the bedroom and looked as if he'd half fallen asleep after opening the fridge.

"You know you could have gone back to bed."

Ianto gave a little start, turning around and shutting the fridge. He opened his mouth to respond, but Jack cut in.

"It's not like you're going to work today. I already called Martha, she's put you on medical leave," he lied. "And I can certainly take care of Jordan for the day."

Ianto stared at him for a moment before yawning. "Liar," he grumbled, turning to head back to his room. "Make sure you tell Martha I'll be in tomorrow, and I want a new cast."

Jack smiled, watching him leave. He really adored that man. The sound of the toilet flushing brought his attention back to the present. He turned, "Jordan you need help washing your hands?" he asked.

Jordan came out, holding his hands up. He nodded.

Jack came over, picking him up and turning the sink on. "You're not very talkative in the mornings, are you?" he asked as Jordan washed his hands.

All he got in response was a yawn.

Jack was looking forward to a day of being domestic. He hadn't done that in… well, a lifetime really. After giving Martha a call, he was ready to start the day. There was, of course, nothing better to start the day with than a nice large breakfast. Sadly Jordan absolutely refused to eat the green pepper and tomato omelet, and Ianto was still asleep, so he was the only one to enjoy it. He tried to convince Jordan to play a game with him, but the child just wanted to play with his dragons.

Jack sighed as he sat down the couch. He remembered now why he didn't do domestic; it was horribly boring. He looked down at his watch and groaned when he saw it was 11:15, only ten minutes from the last time he looked. Time was so against him here.

His eyes lit up when he saw Ianto come into the room, and better yet, he came into the room in some loose sweats and a baggy t-shirt. Nothing was better than seeing Ianto dressed down.

"Morning bright eyes." He grinned, standing up quickly and going to grab Ianto's pill. "You retreated back to bed too fast this morning for me to give this to you." He handed the pill to him and Ianto took it dry.

"Did you remember to call Martha?" Ianto looked about, eyes scanning the flat. 

"Jordan's been in his room most of the day," he said, answering Ianto's unasked question. "And yes, I told you I called Martha before you ever even woke up, the first time."

Ianto gave him a flat look. "Liar," he stated again. "But at least you called her." He ran a hand through his hair which was still wonderfully tousled from the night of sleeping. "Jordan giving you any trouble?"

"Nope, he's been a perfect angel, not a peep out of him really. He comes out every so often to make sure I'm here, or get a drink or the bathroom or… something. He refused to play a game with me though. Gave me a look like I was evil even to suggest a game this early. He's got your sleeping habits."

"Thank god for that." Ianto smiled . "Don't think I could handle a child that only slept a few hours, every few days."

"Ianto…" Jack bit his tongue. "I know… you still don't find-"

"Stop," Ianto interrupted, giving a look that was scarily familiar to the look Jordan had given him earlier. "I need coffee, and maybe some toast and jam. Then you can try again if you like."

"Do I get some coffee?" Jack asked eagerly. "I can do your toast," he offered.

Ianto just set about making the coffee ignoring Jack and his hyper active presence. He was, of course, aware of Jack jumping about behind him. It was impossible to not be aware of the man. When he finished he turned, holding two cups of coffee.

"You stop bouncing about, and give me my toast, and I'll give you this cup," he bargained, sipping his own, smiling into the cup when Jack immediately froze and held out the toast with jam smeared over it.

Ianto took the toast while handing off the cup. He pulled a face at how globby the jam was, his fingers would be seriously sticky after eating this.

"So is it just me, or does Katie have a serious crush on David?" Jack asked, sitting down at the table.

Ianto sat in the chair next to him, licking off some of the jam that was trying to escape the toast. "Horribly, David just sees her as another little sister though. He's completely oblivious. You should have been here when R.J. was here. He had a crush on Mica, but Mica was still young and couldn't even fathom dating a younger boy. Now that he's moved off I think she might have developed a bit of a crush on him."

Jack chuckled. "Torchwood love triangles, gotta love those."

"Not really." Ianto sipped his coffee. "There were days I was sure Gwen was going to shoot me. I didn't particularly like the little looks you'd give her either."

"It wasn't that bad." Jack leaned back in his chair. "It was just fun with Gwen and I, she was happy with Rhys." His eyes locked on Ianto. "And I certainly wasn't complaining with who I had."

A pink tint colored Ianto's cheeks. "Right." He evaded Jack's twinkling eyes, taking a rather large gulp of his coffee. He was luckily saved by his son darting in to hug him good morning. Ianto scooped him up, setting him on his lap and the child instantly started helping himself to the gooey toast.

"Oh, how come he'll eat that, but wouldn't touch the omelet I made him." Jack pouted.

"What did you put in the omelet?" Ianto asked, whipping some jam from the boy's chin before it dripped onto his P.J. top.

"I found some green peppers and tomatoes in the fridge. Perfect omelet," Jack smiled.

"You wanted a child to eat a green pepper omelet?" Ianto raised an eye brow at him, as if he'd gone insane.

"Why not, all my other children loved them, Alice-"

"All your other children? How many children have you had, Jack?" Ianto's eye brows had shot up on his forehead as he stared at Jack.

"Four others. There was Alice of course, and then back when I first got here in the 1800's I had two girls. I was even married back then." He smiled softly at the memory. "It didn't last long; my wife and I were killed in a carriage accident, so the girls were given to their uncle. I watched from afar. He raised them well." He took a small sip of his coffee.

"The fourth?" Ianto prompted softly.

"Died, before he was even born. A miscarriage, a month before he was due. We named him Ty'lo. He was stunning."

"I'm sorry, Jack." Ianto said softly, wiping Jordan's chin again.

Jack just nodded looking away, his eyes drifting to the window. "I always wanted a boy. I suppose that's why I adored Steven so much." His grip tightened on the coffee mug. "I never wanted to hurt him."

"I know. So does Alice,-"

"Don't," Jack interrupted in a short sharp tone, his eyes glaring.

"She doesn't want to see you, but she did forgive you." Ianto kept going as if Jack hadn't spoken. "I have coffee with her once a month; she has a 17 year old daughter now. Named her Stephanie, she was a rather dramatic surprise. Alice had been in the middle of menopause when she found out she was expecting, and she was terrified the child wouldn't be right. She was; perfectly healthy. She's very pretty. She's been told stories of you, but I don't think she believes them. She's met me twice, but she was so little the first time I don't believe she made the connection that I'm the same person."

Jack didn't respond. He stayed totally silent, staring down into his coffee mug with an unreadable look in his eyes.

Ianto tightened his grip on Jordan, waiting for a moment before trying again. "Steven was a hero; he's in all current history books now. There's not a person in the entire world, I don't think, that doesn't know his name."

Jack stood up, and silently left the flat, the door slamming behind him.

Jordan jumped at the noise, looking up at Ianto with wide eyes.

Ianto gave a little sigh before brushing Jordan's hair back. "I think I put my foot in it." Jordan pointed to his feet and Ianto smiled. "Yes, that's a foot."

"Bath?" Jordan asked holding up sticky fingers.

Ianto chuckled. "Don't suppose that's a bad idea, you didn't get one last night." He stood up picking Jordan up with him.

"Say sorry?" Jordan asked softly.

"Sorry?" Ianto sighed. "Suppose that might be wise. If he's willing to talk to me." He set Jordan down on the ground and started the to fill the bath. "Jordan, do you understand who Jack is?"

"Jack." Jordan nodded, pointed out toward the door where Jack had left.

Ianto smiled, "Yes, that was Jack, but do you know who he is?"

"Jack a boy," Jordan replied, pleased with himself.

"Jordan, remember the stories I used to tell you, about your papa? Do you know who that is?" Ianto sat on the bathroom floor, watching as the child hurried from the bathroom, to come back with a framed photo.

"Papa." He held it up, and Ianto gently took it from him. It was a picture of Jack and him by the water tower, Ianto had been looking down at his PDA and Jack had been leering at the younger man. He remembered Tosh had snapped the picture.

"Yes." He pointed to Jack. "That's papa, that's Jack." He tapped the picture. "Jack is your papa, do you understand that?" He reached back shutting the water off.

Jordan took the picture from Ianto, sitting down and staring at it. "Papa." He pointed to Jack. "Tad." He pointed to Ianto. "Jack." He pointed to Jack again, looking intently at the picture silently for a while before standing up. "OK," he announced and started stripping.

Ianto smiled. "Alright?"

Jordan smiled. "Jack papa. OK." He grinned, wiggling free of his shorts and grabbing his bucket of bath toys dumping them into the tub.

Ianto smiled and helped Jordan into the tub. He played with him for a while before he got splashed, then started the actual washing process, which resulted in bigger splashes and louder laughs from the child. Needless to say by the time they were done Ianto had gotten a pretty good bath himself. Pulling Jordan free of the tub one-handed proved to be a bit more difficult, and Jordan loudly voiced his discomfort, however once Ianto got the towel wrapped around him and Jordan was safely settled on his hip, he was blissfully silent.

Going into Jordan's room Ianto settled down on the little love seat, pulling out a book from the bookcase.

"'Derek's Daring Dragon Tales' Chapter three," Ianto read, opening the book and smiling as Jordan snuggled into him. He tried to find time to read to the boy at least once a day, if not more. He couldn't think of a better time. However, after a few pages it was getting increasingly harder to read the words. He had felt fine before, but perhaps that pill had affected him more than he'd thought. He paused, marking his page and reaching over to grab a very simple book. "How about you read to me today?"

Jordan smiled, grabbing the book and pointing to the title. "Farm Life!" he exclaimed. He had the book more memorized than anything else, but still ran his fingers along the words as he recited them with happiness. Ianto was more than happy to tell him how wonderful a reader he was.

After the book, Ianto got Jordan dressed and took him out to a kiddy center to allow him time to play and interact with other children. While Jordan could never get any true friends, they'd age too fast for him, Ianto still thought it important he spend time with others. They spent the good majority of the afternoon there, eventually heading home so Ianto could prepare dinner.

As he walked into the flat his nose was greeted by a wonderful smell. He smiled, glad that Jack had come back. He set Jordan down expecting him to dart into the kitchen to see Jack, but instead he darted for the bathroom.

"Welcome back." Jack smiled, holding a large spoon up. "Want a taste?"

Ianto took a bite, eyes shutting at the taste. Jack wasn't the best of cooks normally, though he was never bad either, but he could make the best chili Ianto had ever tasted.

Jack smiled at Ianto's expression. "Good?"

Ianto nodded, just as Jordan came back into the room holding a framed picture. He tugged on Jack's pants.

Jack looked down at him, and Jordan tugged again so Jack kneeled down. "Yes?" He grinned at the boy.

Jordan held out the picture to him, Jack took it slightly confused, though he grinned when he saw the picture. Jordan stepped onto his tip toes to point at the people.

"Tad." He pointed to Ianto, then to Jack. "Papa," he announced, then looked right up at Jack. "You papa. You my papa." He took the picture back stepping away, apparently done now that he'd gotten that straightened out.

Jack looked slightly shocked as he stood up. He nodded. "So, if you're going to call me Papa, does that mean I get to call you pip-squeak?"

Jordan's eyes widened and he quickly shook his head 'no'.

"No? How about squirty?"

Jordan repeated the head shake.

"Munchkin? Small fry? Tiny tot? Junior?" Jack rattled off, and Jordan continued to shake his head 'no', giggling as he did so. "Then what shall I call you?"

Jordan paused, looking back at Ianto before staring up at Jack. "Dragon," he announced gravely, with a nod of his head. Ianto quickly suppressed a giggle.

Jack smiled as well. "Alright, you can be my little dragon. I can live with that. 'Course if you're a dragon, perhaps I ought to have made this chilli a bit hotter…"

Reviews are loved.


	8. Chapter 7

A.N. I am SO sorry for the delay in this chapter; I went on a nine day vacation then after I got back I had three days then a camping trip, followed by getting ready for school, mixed in with some writer's block- it's been quite the experience. This Quote is a rather long one, but I loved finding out how Ianto remembers everything, thought you would too.

TW quote:

He parked the van in its registered bay, stepped out and checked around to make sure he was alone. He had made it his business to know all the users of the car park, their details filed away in his head. He used the Loci—or Memory Palace—technique, allocating visual triggers to the information so as to be able to store and recall everything quickly. He pictured the owners of each of the cars around him and then—using an expanded mental layout of the house he had grown up in—he checked each one of them off, placing them in a line of cupboards that he visualized in his old kitchen. For example, if he open the cupboard just about the sink—the one with a Fiat 500 key-fob hanging from the handle—he would see David Thompson, the jolly young man who dealt with the intranet at the Welsh Assembly, sat on a tin of baked beans. In his hands he held the jack of clubs (Blackjack: giving his age as twenty-one in Ianto's system), and the photograph of Kelly Rowland (Thompson's flat-mate was called Kelly). If Ianto were to lean in and look at the time on Thompson's watch—a scratched souvenir from Disneyworld, Mickey waving his gloved hands cheerily as the seconds ticked away—he would see the hands pointing to five past nine: Thompson started work at nine and finished at five.

(The House that Jack Built, by Guy Adams. Pg 45)

* * *

Unpleasant or Extraordinary  
By Wildfire  
Chapter Seven

The week had been one straight out of hell. With Jack and Ianto both out, the Hub had quickly got behind on paperwork, and of course when they returned it got all the worse. Jack and Ianto had been bickering and biting at each other whenever they got close, and the rift seemed to be feeding off the energy, spitting out every little thing it possibly could. Just in the last three days they'd had two space crafts, four bombs, and thirteen unknown pieces of space junk. It was now at the point where they'd walk into the Hub, unload, and then head right back out again. Everyone was at their wits end, snapping at each other for the smallest of things; that of course set Jordan's temper off, which just made everyone else crankier….

Overall the week had been one of the worst Ianto had ever seen. The one positive was his fractured arm was at least in a more traditional cast.

"Ianto!" Jack hollered for him.

Ianto swiveled his chair around raising an eyebrow at Jack; he didn't grace him with a verbal response.

Jack practically dropped a large metal sphere on Ianto's computer. "We have new space junk for you to archive. That's the small bit." He turned heading back out.

Ianto scooted the large object away from his computer, glaring at it. It looked old, tarnished and like rubbish. Sadly, Torchwood didn't have a 'rubbish' room; the closest was the unknown section. He turned grabbing his tool kit; he might as well start trying to figure out what to classify it as.

"Jack! Wait." Martha hurried up from the medical bay, her gray hair disheveled. "Great timing this is," she said sarcastically holding up a stack of paper. "It's from U.N.I.T., claiming that Ianto Jones, 'having died twice', is now classified as a non-human life form, and as such needs to come down to London to be examined immediately."

Ianto turned sharply around at that. "Pardon?"

Jack shook his head. "They can't," he said soothingly, looking to Ianto briefly before looking back at Martha. "He's under my protection; I have discretionary powers for any unusual actives or life forms in my jurisdiction. It's up to me how to handle that."

"Was," Martha corrected. "You're not in charge anymore, and after you went, you left it all to Gwen."

"And I made sure to pass that bit onto her as well," Jack said snatching the papers from her.

Martha sighed. "Yes, but unfortunately Gwen didn't sign it over to me. Which means the contract becomes null and void. She never got the chance to."

Ianto looked slightly ill. "I suppose when they say examine they're not talking about a nice check up?"

Jack didn't answer as he flipped rapidly through the pages, including a copy of the contract. Jack was sure he would have left himself some loophole, in case he lost his position. He had to have.

Martha laid a gentle hand on Ianto's shoulder, giving him a sympathetic look. "You won't be going with them."

"And if I don't, we create a war between us," Ianto sighed. They'd just about developed a decent working relationship with U.N.I.T since Martha had become head of Torchwood Three.

"No," Martha said firmly. "They started the war by claiming rights on you like you were something they could just own."

"Why now?" Jack asked flopping the stack of papers down. "Why try and claim him now? You said Gwen died a few years ago: why didn't they try and claim him right away? Or just take him? Why this?"

"A distraction?" Martha suggested thoughtfully.

"Jordan." All three spoke at once as realization dawned.

Jack let out a variety of colorful words turning around to pace. "They probably started watching when they realized the contract wasn't passed on, and spotted Jordan. After two years of no aging it's obvious he's not normal."

Ianto nodded. "Not too hard to discover who his parents are either. He looks just like you, and is always with me." He pinched the bridge of his nose, resisting the urge to get up and cuddle his son, who was currently asleep on the couch.

"And what better way to get him? Claim they want Ianto. They must know we'd keep Ianto safe within the Hub, while we sort that out," Martha pointed out.

"But keeping a toddler stuck inside, all the time… wouldn't work well." Ianto groaned. "What are we going to do?"

"Keep you and him inside. We can convert one of the bottom rooms into a play center, with a bed, and we could have artificial lighting." Martha tapped her lip as she considered the logistics.

"We are not locking my son up because these ass-wipes want to push us about," Jack stated. "This place has to have emergency exits. We'll sneak you out. Get you out of town."

"Out of town?" Ianto looked puzzled. "The fact that we're in Cardiff is probably the only thing from stopping them from storming the area."

"Exactly, and that's what they'll think we think too." Jack smiled. "They'll scour this town before they ever think of looking outside it."

"But anywhere we go someone is bound to spot us, Jack. I mean, it's not easy to hide from a secret organization. They know all the hiding spots."

"Yes, but do they know all the obvious spots? Think of it like hiding a letter." Jack sat in front of a computer, and started typing. "You see, when you hide it, you put it where you think someone is least likely to look: inside a chair, a book binding, hollowed out wall or behind a loose brick. These are places to hide things; places people will naturally look because they're hiding spots. If you don't hide it there they'll start expanding their search to the outside: holes in trees, or under stone paths. They never stop to think to look in the letter box, or on a table with other letters. That's too obvious, so they never look there. Now, we're not going to hide you that obviously. That'd be like putting you in a hotel across the road from them. No, I think we'll stash you a bit more exotically." He turned the computer screen so Ianto could see it.

The display showed a cabin resort, advertized to be just outside London.

"I don't really care for camping, Jack." No matter how many years passed he still shuddered at the thought of Brecon.

"That's obvious, which is another reason you'll go. Plus, they have horses, and fishing, and hiking trails, and fires, and—"

"Jack!" Ianto interrupted sternly. "What would we do if they did find me? If they found Jordan? We'd be too far to be able to just run away. We'd have to get back through London just to get to the safety of the Hub."

"Which is exactly why they'll never look for you there," Jack responded confidently.

"I don't like this, Jack. It's based on a lot of assumptions of what 'they' think we'll do." Ianto sat back. "If it was just me that'd be one thing, but we're playing with Jordan's welfare too. What if the reason they're doing this now is because you're back, Jack? What if they're expecting exactly this?"

"They won't be, because it's the last thing I want to do. I want to keep Jordan safe and here where I can watch and protect him, and I certainly don't want him over 3 hours away. This goes against everything I do. I push people away, but always make sure they're still close. Why do you think Alice still lived somewhere nearby? No, they'll be expecting me to keep you here, or at least close. This is the best way."

"Why can't we just stay here?" Ianto rubbed his temples slightly. He was losing the battle and he knew it.

"Don't be stupid, Ianto," Jack snapped. "How long could you really stay here? Eventually one or both of you is going to go stir crazy. U.N.I.T. can keep us under siege here for years before they even start to get bored."

"So it's more practical to keep me in a cabin for 2 years?" Ianto snapped back.

"Different cabins, there's a whole bunch in the area; we can move you about every couple of months. But it shouldn't come to that. Hopefully we'll be able to negotiate a deal, a new contract or something. We have to have something they want more than you and Jordan; it's just a matter of finding it. Hopefully you won't be there for more than a few weeks."

"Are you sure you can even get us out of here unnoticed?" Ianto clung to his last resistance; he really didn't want to stay in a cabin.

"That won't be a problem," Martha interrupted, dashing his last hope. "Gwen had escape tunnels for the Hub installed all over the place, with contractors the government knew nothing about. She had to pull major strings, but she kept them completely secret. She, Mickey and I were the only ones that knew about them."

"Why wasn't I informed of them?" Ianto asked sharply, somewhat hurt that he hadn't been told about these tunnels. They seemed rather important things to know about.

"Honestly? I never really thought about it. It just never seemed like that big of a deal. We've never needed them, until now." Martha shrugged, looking slightly abashed.

Ianto frowned. "Yeah, good thing you knew about them," he grumbled crossing his arms. He was well aware he looked like a sulking child, but frankly at the moment he didn't care one jot.

**~~TW~~**

Ianto stared in horror at the inside of the cabin; a low whistle sounded beside him.

David stood shaking his head. "Bit grubby, yeah?"

Ianto gave him a dirty look, his eyes narrowing as he took in his surroundings. The cabin was small with a living room, a small kitchen, an even smaller bathroom, and one bedroom. It wasn't the size that horrified Ianto though, it was the grime - the counters looked unwashed, and there were cobwebs, not just in every corner, but in-between as well. The couches looked as if when you sat in them you'd be eaten and closer examination of the floor revealed tons of mouse droppings.

"I can't do this," Ianto announced in a horrified whisper. He wasn't about to let Jordan down on this floor, but he couldn't very well hold him the whole time. "You can't honestly expect us to live here?"

"It's not that bad." David dropped Ianto's bag on the couch. "I'll admit it needs a bit of a cleanup, but it's a good size and you have an amazing view. You have a lake, and there's horses, plus a nice restaurant just up the road…"

"You want me to eat at the restaurant that's managed by the same people who cleaned this?" Ianto's voice was incredulous as he gestured to the cabin.

"Oh, come on. Really, my dear Uncle, it's just a bit of dirt. It won't hurt you. Who knows, it might end up being really good for you." David grinned, taking Jordan from his over protective father and putting him down on a distinctly grubby piece of carpet. "There now. See, he didn't explode or anything." He patted Ianto's back, with fond affection and looked at his watch. "I can stay for a while yet. Why don't we unload?"

Ianto eyed Jordan for a moment before heading back outside to grab the different bags from the back of the car. There was food, cleaning supplies—thank god—and then of course the normal clothing and shower materials. It took close to an hour to get everything unloaded and put away in its place. Of course it probably took that long because Ianto insisted on cleaning every cupboard and drawer before they put stuff away in them.

When they were done David plopped dramatically onto the couch and Ianto noticed his prediction had been right; the couch did half-way eat him. Ianto sat down in one of the kitchen chairs, it seemed much more durable.

"Well, that wasn't so bad," David said, struggling to sit upright in the very old couch. "See, we can make this place work yet."

"We didn't bring a vacuum." Ianto looked around on the floor with distaste.

"You don't need a vacuum. You can go a while without vacuuming. Jordan will live and so will you." David grinned.

"BUG!" Jordan held up a squirming centipede-like bug to Ianto.

Ianto's eyes went huge and he quickly swatted the vermin from his son's hand, stomped it and then picked Jordan up, setting him on his lap. He glared angrily at David who was laughing hysterically on the couch.

"David, if you value your life, even just a little bit. GET. ME. A VACUUM CLEANER. NOW!"

* * *

Reviews are loved.


	9. Chapter 8

A.N. Thanks for the great reviews guys, they really help me, especially now that school's started again. I'm taking four classes, one of which is Calculus another being Japanese, so I do apologize if updates become a bit erratic.

I would also like to thank both my betas, who have not only helped me with my horrible grammar but also with helping me when they give me some really great lines, or with helping me find certain things… that I can't yet talk about.

Thanks again for the reviews, now for our quote from the wonderful Torchwood books.

TW Quote:  
'I'm so hungry,' Ianto's voice shivered. 'But maybe I'll freeze to death first.'

'Oh yeah. Tosh wants to analyze your invisible clothes,' agreed Owen. He indicated the empty slab to Jack. 'He had to take them off anyway, 'cause they were covered in tiger shit.'

'Wait a minute…' Jack cocked a saucy eyebrow. 'Am I hearing this correctly? Ianto is sitting there… naked?'

'Like, but unlike, one of my recurring nightmares,' said Ianto's voice in a plaintive tone.

Jack stared at the ceiling and laughed aloud. 'Oh, that is _such_ an unfair advantage in naked hide-and-seek…' He trailed off as he realized Owen and Toshiko were both looking at him. 'What?'

(Pack Animals, by Peter Anghelides, pg 159)

* * *

Unpleasant or Extraordinary  
By Wildfire  
Chapter Eight

Ianto lay stiffly on the very squeaky bed, with Jordan blissfully asleep on his chest. Ianto was not so blissful. He stared at the ceiling, listening.

Patter, patter, patter; patter, patter, patter; patter, patter, patter.

The noise was too loud to be the feet of mice. No, this was definitely the sound of something bigger. Rats.

Ianto tried to force his eyes shut. It was just vermin for goodness sake. There were no holes in the ceiling, so they weren't going to suddenly fall on him. They weren't.

Patter, patter, patter; patter, patter, patter; patter, patter, patter.

He tightened his arm around Jordan, envious at how the boy could just tune out the rodents and sleep. He should sleep; he should close his eyes, and just ignore the vermin.

Patter, patter, patter; patter, patter, patter; patter, patter, patter.

He was going to kill Jack.

~~**TW**~~

Ianto sighed, taking a deep breath to allow the cool air to penetrate his lungs. Jordan squirmed around in his arms excitedly and Ianto smiled down at him, taking one last deep breath before he headed up to see the barn.

He'd been promising Jordan a visit to the horses for a while now. It wasn't that he didn't want to see the animals; it was more that he didn't want to smell them. He doubted the owners kept their barn very clean, but hell, maybe he'd get lucky and the barn would be the one thing they kept spotless.

He headed up the slope toward the barn, Jordan gasping when he heard a horse whinny. He pointed quickly to where the noise had come from.

"Is that the noise a horse makes?" Ianto asked with a small smile.

Jordan nodded, trying to get up higher in Ianto's arms so he could see, but he couldn't quite manage it. Ianto put his free hand on Jordan's back so he didn't fall backwards. "Be still, Jordan, we'll get there soon enough. Bouncing about doesn't help speed the process up." Jordan paused in his movements, looking first to his tad before twisting again to try and see, though now he did stay in one position and ceased the incessant wriggling.

Ianto gave him a smile, slightly sad that his son wasn't able to voice his excitement. With them being around the 'general public' and trying to lay low, it wasn't safe for Jordan to be speaking far past his visual age. He talked inside the cabin, of course, but outside he pretty much kept silent.

As Ianto crested the hill they came in sight of the horses; there had to be over 40 of them, all just standing about grazing behind a large wooden fence. They looked a bit worn down, perhaps lame would be the proper word for them, but that didn't stop Jordan from letting out a high-pitched squeal of excitement. Ianto walked up to the fence, watching as a few of the horses immediately came over to greet them, and he reached down pulling some tall grass free and holding it up for the horses to eat. Their ears flattened and the skittered back as Jordan let out another squeal.

"Shh," Ianto said softly. "You're going to spook them, soft noises." He held the grass out and after a few moments the horses hesitantly returned to receive the treat. Ianto pulled another handful of grass free, this time handing it to Jordan. Jordan held it out, but dropped it as soon as a horse started nibbling on it. Ianto picked it back up, giving it to the horse then gently patted the animal's nose. "Want to pet him?"

Jordan paused before nodding and holding his hand out. Ianto gently guided the small hand showing the boy how to pet the horse. He picked it up pretty quickly, and Ianto released the hand, with a smile. Jordan loved all things with animals and wanted nothing more than to get an animal himself. Ianto had been putting it off though; since Jordan aged so slowly the animal would pass on before Jordan even started ageing with it. If he could wait until Jordan was visually five then he'd at least be able to appreciate the animal for its life. Of course Ianto wasn't really looking forward to having an animal - something else to clean up after.

"That's Crystal, she's one of our best girls." A young woman walked up, grinning. She wore tight jeans tucked into cowboy boots and had on a red sleeveless shirt that plunged rather drastically. She walked with a sway of her hips that Ianto couldn't help but notice, then leaned against the fence with a large grin. "I'm Selena, but you can call me Se." She held her hand out.

Ianto smiled, taking and giving it a firm shake. "I'm Taylor," he said smoothly. It was after all what his reservation was under. "This is my son Jordan."

Her hand lingered in his as she grinned. "Taylor? I always loved that name; it was the name of my first crush." Her eyes moved to Jordan, then back to Ianto. "Your son is very beautiful."

"Thank you, he takes after his mother." Ianto looked down at Jordan, who had turned his attention back to the horse.

"Oh, I don't know, I think he might take more after you. He is very pretty," she said her eyes drilling holes into Ianto's skull. "Is his mother coming down later then, Taylor?" She purred his name.

"Um, no. She had to work." Ianto fought to keep from fidgeting, the last thing he needed was this woman to think he was nervous around her.

"Had to work, huh?" She giggled sweetly. "Yeah, I know that one, my ex used to use that all the time. Perhaps you already know that too, though?" She gestured to Ianto's ringless hand.

Ianto frowned a little, and instead of answering just gave a small shrug.

"Don't you worry, Taylor. It gets easier, plus it's nice not to be tied down to just one person. You never know who you're going to meet after all." She flipped her hair back, smiling up at the sky as if basking in the glow.

Ianto had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. "Of course. So, do you work with the horses then?"

Selena quickly looked up. "Yeah, got hired for the summer, and I'm loving every moment of it. All the horses here are so sweet. I usually ride Star though, she's a bit younger and still has some steam left in her. Horses like Crystal here; well they're pretty much just for tourists. You know, if you're interested in a ride I know some great spots that aren't listed on the tour guides."

"I'm not much of a rider, plus I don't think Jordan's old enough to be riding yet." He said the last part jokingly, but with an edge of seriousness.

"Of course, right, sorry, I can be such a space case. I'd forget my head if it wasn't attached." She giggled and flipped her hair again. "You ought to come back up here some weekend when he's with his mother. It'd be great fun."

"Her schedule doesn't really match up to take him, and I prefer him being with me." He noticed his voice had lost some of its warmth; but then again, if it wasn't for the fact that Jordan was still having fun with the horse, he would have escaped long ago.

"Really?" she said, slightly surprised. "I mean, not to be rude or nothing, but she's the mother. You'd think she'd make her schedule work for her child."

"She does the best she can, but a lot of people really depend on her. She has a lot of responsibilities." Ianto's voice was defensive, he hated when people tried to judge his family… Whoa. Family? Since when did he include Jack in his family? Well, it made sense and all with him being Jordan's father, but…

"Still, no matter how many responsibilities she has, she should still make time for her family. Life's far too short to live it working all the time."

"We have long life expectancies," Ianto retorted flatly. " It was nice talking to you…?"

"Selena." She said tightly.

"Right, Selena. Perhaps I'll see you about." He nodded heading away from the farm. Jordan waved sadly to the horse.

Ianto walked swiftly back toward the small cabin. He loathed this place. It wasn't that there was anything wrong with it. Hell, it might have been a real nice vacation spot. It was just that he was forced to be here, living this stupid lie, afraid for his son, no contact with his friends or family, and living in filth. He opened the door to the cabin, stepping in and putting Jordan down on the floor.

"Shall we make some lunch?" He walked into the kitchen and set about pulling out the ingredients for a simple cheese sandwich.

Jordan stood up, toddling into the kitchen. "Crisps?" he asked softly.

"Crisps? What about them? Want to throw them in the lake?" Ianto asked with a small smile.

Jordan giggled, covering his mouth for a moment before he put his hands down. "I have crisps with lunch?"

"Yes, you can have crisps with lunch. Would you like potato or corn crisps?" He asked.

"Corn with ketchup!"

"You know ketchup is not the same thing as salsa, I don't care what your uncle David tells you. They are very different things." Ianto said, grinning.

"With ketchup!" He insisted, his little foot stomping, he too was grinning.

Ianto laughed and nodded. "Fine, corn crisps with ketchup. Would you like fruit or veggies with that?"

"nana!" Jordan clapped his hands. "Can I peel?"

Ianto nodded. "Yes, you may. Would you peel me one too?"

"Mmhmm."

Ianto set a plate on the floor with two bananas on it. "Make sure you keep them on the plate, this floor isn't clean like ours." He finished toasting the bread on the skillet and put a slice of cheese on each. "Would you like to go for a swim in the lake after lunch?" It was a frequent activity of theirs since arriving at the camp grounds; it was a simple thing that kept Jordan busy.

"Swim!" Jordan said, sticking his tongue between his teeth as he struggled to get the banana started. "Papa come?"

"You know he won't," Ianto said softly, "He's at home, making sure we'll be safe when we return. He'll come and get us when we can go home. Until then we have to be troopers, right?"

Jordan frowned at the unrelenting banana then held it up to Ianto. Ianto started to peel it and handed it back to him.

"Jordan?"

Jordan nodded. "Be trooper." He nodded again, carefully setting the semi-squished banana on the plate and grabbing the second one.

Ianto pulled down two plates setting a slice of bread with cheese on each, then a few crisps, adding ketchup to one. "You have those bananas ready?"

Jordan nodded as he finished peeling the second one, which looked far less mushy. He held the plate up and Ianto put a banana on each of their plates, making sure he took the mushy one. He carried them over to the table as Jordan climbed into his seat.

Ianto sat down staring out the window at the lake. It was quite a pretty view.

Two flies flew past him, zipping around his head before vanishing into the bathroom. God, he hoped Jack got him out of here soon.

* * *

Reviews are loved.


	10. Chapter 9

A.N. Hello! I hope everyone is having fun either in their job, schooling or general life. Wow I have been busy. I should be doing HW right now, but I wanted to write instead. You might have noticed the last chapter was mostly fluff, this chapter is a bit more serious and I hope you all enjoy it. Today's Torchwood Quote came from me opening a book randomly and reading until I found one I liked, hope you liked it too.

Torchwood Quote:

_'Oh,' he sighed. 'You have a pterodactyl. How quaint.'_

_Jack laughed and the lift came to a jerky halt at the base of the tower. He shifted the wheelchair onto the metal gantry and pushed Alexander towards the Autopsy Room._

_Ianto got up from his desk and headed towards them. 'Pteranodon, actually,' he said, frowning. 'Ianto Jones. You must be Alexander.'_

_'Yes, I must, mustn't I?' Alexander shook Ianto's hand and rolled his eyes as he spotted the look that passed between the young man and Jack. 'Tell him if he's going to roger you, the least he could do is get you an office of your own.' He waved at Ianto's workstation. 'Look at him, sat there in the middle of the entrance hall.' He looked up at Jack. 'Bet you've got your own office.'_

_'Well…'_

_'Thought as much. Bet you don't use it for much more than looking at porn and listening to Glenn Miller, either.'_

(The House That Jack Built, by Guy Adams pg 64-65)

* * *

Unpleasant or Extraordinary  
By Wildfire  
Chapter Nine

Jack watched in horror as Ianto fell to his knees. He quickly grabbed him, the poison in his own body blurring his vision. His thumb brushed frantically over Ianto's scraped cheek.

"Please, not again. Don't leave me," he begged. He'd been here so many times. He couldn't do it, not again.

But Ianto didn't pause. "It was good, yeah?"

How he hated that. He hated that question. Like it had all been some silly little game that was now over. Jack wanted to scream. He could hear laughter – bright, beautiful laughter - but he refused to look up. He wouldn't take his eyes from Ianto, not until he drew his last breath.

Ianto was staring at him, reciting the lines Jack already knew so well.

"There's nothing we can do," Gwen said from somewhere behind him, and Jack wanted to spin around and hit her. He didn't, he couldn't take his eyes from Ianto. His breathing was shallower now, his body tightening up as he struggled to stay alive, struggled to stay with him. They both knew it was a losing battle. Jack's thumb continued to run over Ianto's cheek even after the man's body went lax and he stopped breathing.

It took Jack a moment to realize he should be dying too. He sighed, it didn't really matter now.

He finally turned his head away from his fallen lover to the laughter.

It was _his_ team, in _his_ Hub, and they were laughing, Christmas decorations set about just so—Ianto's touch.

Ianto…

He smiled seeing his lover standing by Tosh, a beer in his hand. The smile on Ianto's face was true and honest, and perhaps a little drunk.

"He's gone."

Jack whirled around to stare at Gwen back in that horribly poisoned room, Ianto's body twisted and deformed now. Gwen stood over it, staring down with sad eyes. "He's gone," she repeated.

Ianto's disgruntled squeak made him turn once more to the party. Owen had Ianto in a head lock and was ruthlessly ruining his perfect hair. Jack smiled at the scene, he liked this scene.

"He's gone," Gwen monotoned behind him. This time Jack didn't look, he didn't want to see. He didn't want to see Ianto's body. He wanted to see this…

Ianto shoved Owen away, glaring furiously at him. "Decaf!" he announced and moved away; stopping when he saw Jack, and smiling such a soft, gentle smile Jack was sure his heart stopped for a moment. The man approached him, taking a drink of his beer as he came over.

"Sir, you're under the mistletoe," Ianto pointed out, with a devilish grin on his young face.

Jack looked up, seeing the green plant he grinned too. "Well, would you look at that." He brought his hand around Ianto's waist and pulled him flush. "Well, we wouldn't want to break with tradition."

"Can't have that," Ianto agreed with a grin, his hand moving to the back of Jack's neck and pulling him close to meet his lips in a hard kiss.

"Oi! None of that!" Owen shouted from behind Ianto, but Jack didn't listen. Jack didn't care what Owen said because at this moment, this simple moment, everything was perfect. It was in this moment he'd be happy to live the rest of his life, with _his_ team, in _his_ Hub.

Jack's eyes slid open. He mentally groaned, wondering if he closed them again if he'd be able to return to the last moments of the dream. He knew he couldn't; his brain was too full of memories and he rarely got to dream of the same thing twice… unless it was a dream he didn't want, in which case it would bombard him constantly.

He took a deep breath; he was in his office, his head lolled back on the unfamiliar chair. He briefly wondered who picked this chair out, and why. It had to be the most uncomfortable thing he'd ever sat in. He leaned forward, using his thumb and forefinger to wipe the sleep from his eyes. It was mid-afternoon. He frowned. Why had he fallen asleep? He glanced suspiciously at his coffee, wondering if Martha had had something to do with his little nap. He thought it odd that she'd brought him a cup of coffee. No matter how many times he told her he didn't need to sleep, the doctor in her couldn't accept it. His eyes drifted down to the papers in front of him. He'd been in negotiations with U.N.I.T for a while now. The problem was he couldn't agree with anything they wanted, and yet he, and they, knew they had him by the balls and he'd have to concede eventually. It was just a matter of what he'd finally give up. His mind drifted back to his dream and he knew for sure the one thing he would _not_ be giving up.

He sighed, staring around his office. It felt odd sitting up here again, but it was silly not to take the room. Martha never used it; she stayed in the medical bay. His eyes drifted to the window, Katie was leaning over David's desk, her shirt falling open so David would get a very good look, if he looked up. David, however, was engrossed in his computer, and Jack wondered if he even realized Katie was standing there chatting him up. In some ways they reminded him of Tosh and Owen. A pang of regret stabbed his chest at their memory; he sincerely hoped David and Katie wouldn't end up like they had.

He closed his eyes, taking a moment to remember their faces. He was thankful that he couldn't remember their deaths. He'd been told about it days later. Apparently the night they died he had just lost it, thousands of years under the dirt, then coming back, finally, only to witness their deaths… Ianto had pumped him so full of Retcon it had eliminated more than a few years from his memory.

It had been a bit disorientating when he woke in a bed, expecting to wake being crushed by dirt. Of course he'd never complained. Ianto never took Retcon lightly, and if he'd thought it necessary then Jack knew it was. Gwen had once hinted that he may have gotten violent that night, but he never knew for sure; both Gwen and Ianto had shown bruises but they both claimed they were from other events on that horrible day. He supposed he'd never know now. Gwen might have told him the truth, but Ianto never would.

An absent knock brought him back to the present. He watched Mica hobble into his office, her eyes on a piece of paper. "Jack," she said slowly, then looked up. "These are your protection papers issued by the Royal family in 1954. I think by the way this is phrased you can protect Jordan. Listen." Mica scanned the page locating the appropriate paragraph and read,

_As such I, Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith, decree that Captain Jack Harkness and his issue will now, and forever more, be completely and entirely protected from any government or royal testing, questioning or imprisonment. This document shall only be revoked should Captain Jack Harkness choose to commit treason against the crown._

"After that it's all about the duties you shall perform in return for the protection…but Jack, it says issue. Jordan is from you, he's part you, your issue. If we can get U.N.I.T to admit that they know that, then they can't hold him according to this." She hobbled over to the small couch in the office and sat down.

Jack sat quietly for a moment thinking Mica's words over. "But they won't admit that information freely. They'll stick to claiming he's just Ianto's, that there's no proof of him being mine too."

"There's tons of proof," Mica protested. "It's not like we don't have samples of Jordan's blood, and yours. It's easy enough to do a DNA test."

"And they can claim it's fake just as easily." Jack leaned back in the uncomfortable chair. "They'd push to have me bring Jordan in, with me. Let their team do the test. Once they did the test Jordan would be safe, but they'd push all the harder to get their hands on Ianto, and we have no apparent way to protect him." His eyes slid back to the copy of the void contract. He'd been sure he'd left himself a way to regain control and protect his people again. There was absolutely nothing in the 30-page contract though. Not one single line to give him a way to help his team now.

Mica sighed. "Ianto would want us to protect Jordan first," she said slowly.

Jack's eyes snapped up to glare at her. "I will protect him first, but right now they're both safe and I will not endanger one just to make sure the other is free."

"So instead you'll bloody well just sit here?" Mica snapped. "Blimey Jack, they won't stay hidden forever, it's been close to a month already. Eventually U.N.I.T will figure out where we stashed them, and then we'll be screwed because they'll have them and it will become a thousand times harder to free them. At least this way we can ensure Jordan is safe and then worry about Ianto."

"I will NOT endanger Ianto!" Jack shouted. He stood up, hands planted on the desk. "They're safe, they'll remain safe!"

Mica stood up as well, though not nearly as gracefully. "Why? Because they're tucked away in some back of beyond country resort? Because we have tracker's embedded in their skin? You know how easy it is to just pop those out? Yeah, they'll warn us, but then what would we do? They're on the other side of London; we have NO way to get to them! Ianto was right; this was a piss poor idea! I won't have Jordan taken by them! They'll do tests on him, like he's a rat!"

"If we go in now they'll find them!" Jack argued hotly. "We won't get another chance to hide them. We got lucky the first time because they didn't think we'd move them. They won't make that mistake again, they'll be prepared."

"They can't know about the tunnels! You're being paranoid." Mica retorted stubbornly.

"Don't _ever_ underestimate U.N.I.T's knowledge. They'll have started working on how we got them out immediately. Maybe they don't know where the tunnels are, but I can guarantee they _do_ know about them now, and they'll have better ways to watch us. We get Ianto and Jordan now and we'll never make it back to Cardiff. We'll get stopped long before that. We'll take the 'gold' prize with Jordan but they'll still have the 'silver', and they won't return him. Do you understand that? Until we relinquish practically all power to them, they'll keep him. Torchwood cannot, and will not, ever be under U.N.I.T's control. It can't be allowed to happen. We would have to leave him there. With them."

Mica backed down, sinking into a chair in defeat. "So, what do we do?"

"I don't know." Jack slumped back into his seat. "They need to be moved, Ianto'll be running out of funds at this place and we need to get them to a new establishment, but we can't approach or contact them. I honestly thought I could negotiate their freedom by now but U.N.I.T is sticking hard to their guns. They know they have us by the balls and they're going to twist until we give."

"Lovely visual." Mica deadpanned, her tone vividly conjuring an image of her uncle in Jack's mind. "If we prove Ianto is human, wouldn't that work?"

"And how do we prove that a man who doesn't die is in fact human?" Jack looked up at her expectantly.

"How'd they prove you were human?"

He snorted. "I never said I was human. At least, not all human."

"What else are you?" She leaned forward, eyes alight with curiousity.

He shrugged. "Don't have a clue, but there are very, very few 100% humans from by my time. I'm sure there's some part of me that's mixed with something."

"So, then Jordan…" she reasoned slowly.

"Probably isn't either." He looked up at her. "Does this really matter that much? I feel like I'm in America back in the 1920's where black and whites couldn't mix."

"No, that's not what I meant. Can we call Ianto a casualty?"

"Why—" He cut off sharply. "A casualty?" He smirked. "Wouldn't stop them from taking him…"

"But it'd stop them from treating him like a rat. If the reason he's not dying, i.e. Jordan, is in fact alien then it was not his fault and he's a casualty." Mica grinned.

"And no casualty shall be tested upon more than to ensure base health." Jack quoted with a small grin.

"It would also force them to ensure Ianto at least received proper care too. They might be able to take him, but they'd lose the ability to make him useful to them and we'd know that he had to be taken care off. He'd even have counseling. This is all assuming they play by-the-book."

"Oh, they'll play by-the-book." Jack nodded. "If there's one thing U.N.I.T is, it's by-the-book. They're quite anal about it, in fact."

"So… can we go get Jordan?"

"No!" he snapped. "I'm still not going to risk Ianto, even knowing he'd be cared for. I'm not just going to bloody hand him to them. You know, I would think you'd have more concern for your uncle."

"I love my uncle!" she snapped back. "Sometimes I think I care more about him than my own bloody parents! But I care about Jordan more! He's an innocent in ALL of this! He doesn't even understand it! He doesn't understand any of it. He's a baby!" Her voice cracked.

Jack sighed, feeling very much the weight of his years. "He is, but to me, so are you. So is Ianto. I won't put one in the fire to save another."

"Liar," Mica scoffed. "If it was a choice between saving someone like me or David and saving Ianto, you wouldn't even think," she said with a small smile on her face. "I don't mind, and I understand why you can't choose between Ianto and Jordan. I understand you love them—"

"I am not in love," Jack said firmly.

She smiled fondly. "Never said you were _in_ love, I said you loved them both. Which you do, and for the record, you _are_ also _in_ love with my uncle. We _all_ know it, I think even my uncle realizes it at this point. I would have loved to see the revelation when he realized it, because he was damn sure you never could. "

"I'm not—"

"Fine, you're not," she interrupted. "But you know, it's not like he's going to die on you." She got awkwardly to her feet and moved forward laying the royal charter on his desk, before hobbling out and taking the stairs very slowly down.

Jack's hand ran over the papers briefly before he opened his top drawer, pulling out a small metal box. It had been the first thing he'd put in here when he took the room over. Opening it, he shuffled through the pictures quickly, pausing for half a second on his wedding photo before moving on. He stopped when he came to the picture of Ianto.

Ianto's mouth was open, about to take a large bite of a hot dog. His eyes were equally wide as he looked at the camera realizing Jack was taking a picture of him. Ianto had been absolutely appalled that Jack had taken it. Jack had laughed himself sick when he'd seen the picture; he'd used it as a back drop for months before Ianto had finally had enough and deleted it from both the camera and the computer, leaving absolutely no trace of it. Jack had actually been rather hurt when he found the picture wiped from existence. That night, when he'd gone to the bunker to lay down and feign sleep for a while, he'd found the single photo placed reverently on his pillow.

His finger traced over the image.

Sweet Ianto, he'd always had far too much compassion. Gwen had been the heart for the team, but Ianto was the heart _of_ the team.

"JACK!" Martha shouted up. "Both Ianto and Jordan's transmitter's have gone offline!"

* * *

Reviews are loved!


	11. Chapter 10

A.N. Believe it or not I actually had this chapter pretty much done before I even started on Chapter nine. It's been rattling around my skull for a bit now. I do so adore playing with Ianto. This chapter was a bit harder to write as its pretty much solely on one character so let me know if I did alright with it. I do hope you all are having wonderful times in your life and this might be able to give you a small reprieve from the hectic of one's life. Of course, perhaps, maybe, this might be too much of a distraction for me and my college life, but that's not going to stop me from writing it. Having far too much fun. Please don't kill me with this chapter. ^_~

I finally gave in, I've been avoiding this book in fear of putting all my quotes from it, but I finally gave in. Hope you like today's quote.

Torchwood Quote:

An hour later, they were still in the Boardroom, with the addition of coffees all around.

'I have noticed,' Owen said quietly, 'that when it's just us, no coffee.'

'Jack arrives,' agreed Toshiko, 'and oh, look, the coffee gets made.'

'Delivered,' Gwen added, 'by hand.'

Ianto just shrugged. 'I like Jack. The rest of you? I can take you or leave you.'

And he grinned wolfishly at them.

(The Twilight Streets, By Gary Russell, pg 61)

* * *

Unpleasant or Extraordinary  
By Wildfire  
Chapter Ten

His head pounded, thumping louder than the pounding beat of his heart. His body hurt, and his eyes stung, but worse of all he had no clue as to why.

Ianto slowly opened his eyes, a dull blue wall greeting his vision. He sat up slowly, his head spinning, and looked around. He was in a small room with a window so small he wasn't sure his hand would fit through it. He was quick to notice it didn't open. The floor was a washed out white, his sheets an oatmeal beige. He was more alarmed to notice he was wearing something he'd never seen before, a pale orange t-shirt and sweats. There was a large white door, with no door handle—great.

He forced his breathing to steady; he just had to remember what had happened. What had happened? Jack... Jack had finally returned to Earth, he met Jordan… What happened after that? Did Jack take Jordan from him? No… no Jack wouldn't do that.

Ianto groaned, hunching over holding his head; trying as hard as he might he still couldn't remember what happened after Jack showed up. What was more terrifying was that he had no idea what happened to his son. Was he safe? Was he with Jack? Was he here? Where the hell was here? Who had him? Was he undercover? Or did he get captured? Why would someone kidnap him? What did they know?

Questions swirling round his head in an unanswerable maelstrom he looked up sharply when he heard the door click open. A woman with shoulder length light brown hair walked in, wearing pale red scrubs. "Hello, Mr. McCloud. Is today going to be a good day?" Behind her stood a large man in bright white scrubs: it was the first bright thing he'd spotted yet.

Ianto stared at her, unsure of how to answer, as he had no clue what was going on.

"A bad day then," she said kindly, her smile never moving an inch from her face. "Would you like to start with your medication? Help get rid of the headache?"

Ianto's jaw tightened; no way in hell was he taking any pills this place offered.

"Now, Mr. McCloud, you know very well that will do you no good. Jeffery here doesn't want to force you to take your medication, but he will if you make him." She inclined her head to one side, tucking a stray strand of hair behind one ear. "You won't make him, will you?" she continued in the same soft soothing voice. Ianto realized she was talking to him as if he was a small child. She pulled over a small chair sitting beside Ianto's bed. "Alright, let's try talking first, yeah? It looks like you're having quite the spell today. So we'll start with the basics. Do you know your name?"

Ianto scooted back, his back pressing against the cold wall.

"Suppose not. Alright. Your name is Michael McCloud and you've lived here for 15 years now. My name is Alison Williams; I've been your doctor for the last five. You're here because when you were 10 years old you tried to kill your own parents believing them to be clowns that were bent on killing you. You were diagnosed with your condition when you were 5, but your parents wanted to care for you. Now, Michael, who do you think you are today?" she asked. Her voice never changed in pitch or speed.

Maybe he was undercover? But why couldn't he remember, had he been given retcon? Was there something he wasn't supposed to know? How long had he actually been here for? What was the right way to answer? He kept silent.

The woman continued to smile, her position never changing. She nodded. "I suppose you're a spy today, then? A secret agent from some foreign country? Maybe from the Americas?"

Ianto showed no emotion to the inquiry. Silence was the best answer he would offer.

"Well alright, Mr. McCloud, if you won't talk then perhaps we ought to just take your medication. Then we can take a walk outside for a while. Get you some fresh air, might help clear everything up a bit for you, yeah?"

Ianto's jaw clenched again, his mind trying to go over his options. He could fight, and he stood a decent chance of keeping Ms. 'No-Emotion' and Mr. 'White' off him, but he doubted there wouldn't be others to come and help. Of course if this was one big ruse, and these were the only two here, this might be his only chance to bolt. But would trying to bolt now ruin the chance to try and do it later if he faked compliancy?

A small paper cup of pills was held out to him together with a plastic beaker half filled with water. The woman watched him carefully as the large man stepped forward, ready to intervene if necessary.

Ianto snatched the paper cup from her; he stared into it at the six pure white pills.

"Don't try to hide them in your mouth, Mr. McCloud. You know we do check," she said sternly in the same monotone voice. She held the beaker of water out to him. Ianto took it slowly, tightening his throat up. Twenty or so years back Jack had been teaching him how to swallow and keep something in his throat. He had never mastered the technique, but he sure as hell was going to try. He popped the pills then shot the water, keeping the pills to the side of his mouth as he swallowed the water—hoping it was in fact water—then he swallowed the pills, keeping his throat tight. The catch was closing off part of the throat without blocking his air supply. He almost felt like weeping when he felt the pills lodge safely within his throat. He'd done it; by some grace he'd done it.

"Open!" came the sharp command of the woman. It was the first time Ianto had heard her voice change. He obediently opened his mouth, letting her shine the light into his mouth. "Lift your tongue." He did and she tsked, sitting back. She almost looked slightly disappointed. Oh yeah, she was a real great doctor. "Well, since you took your pills, we can go for a walk. Are you going to behave if we do?" she asked, her voice back to the monotone of before.

Ianto didn't respond, just staring at her.

"Come along, Mr. McCloud." She stood up walking out of the room without a backwards glance. Ianto remained seated before the large man abruptly grabbed him, hauling him to his feet. His grip was firm, but not painful, and Ianto was gently, but firmly, 'guided' out the door. Ianto was assaulted by large florescent lights illuminating a large hallway, doors marked with different names lining the walls, staff in pale red scrubs coaxing other people in the orange suits from their rooms, each accompanied by a man in bright white. Either this was a much larger operation than he thought, or he actually was in some kind of hospital. Ianto's stomach heaved dramatically at the thought of being in a hospital for the mentally ill. He hated these places, and avoided them like they were the plague. He'd only been in one in the last 30 years, and that was because of those infernal night travelers. Jack had been with him then, Jack had made it OK. But Jack bloody Harkness wasn't here this time, and Ianto was sure he was going to be sick. He didn't want to be here.

"Mr. McCloud?" The woman's voice brought him to attention and he realized that he'd stopped walking. He felt the firm grip of the man on his arms, gently pushing him forward, but his feet refused to move. "Are you feeling alright? You're shaking," she informed him, without an inch of actual compassion. "If you are unwell perhaps we should postpone our walk, and instead you might like to spend a quiet day in the common area? The Disney channel is playing today, you like the Disney channel," she said as if stating a fact.

Ianto didn't respond; to be perfectly honest he didn't even realize the woman had continued talking. His mind was spiraling, after all these years this stupid place still haunted him. Well one thing was for sure, this wasn't the same medical center as in Cardiff. So where was this?

The woman watched him. "I think today is a good day for the common room. Jeff, could you go get a chair? I don't think Mr. McCloud has any interest in moving any more today."

Ianto felt the grip leave his arms, and a moment later he was pushed with a bit more force into a chair—a wheelchair, his mind corrected. A soft hand was gently laid on Ianto's shoulder. He looked up into the face of the woman, who still showed no emotion.

"It's alright Mr. McCloud; you'll see that everything is ok."

Ianto had the childish desire to snort disbelievingly at her, but he repressed it. He didn't figure it would help his case to go about snorting at people. He was buckled into the wheelchair and then he was being pushed down the hallways at a steady pace.

He was slowly coming down from the shock of being in a mental hospital, and his mind was getting back on track of where it needed to be. Mainly where the hell his son was. He didn't really care where he was, he just wanted to know Jordan was alright. He couldn't bear the thought of Jordan stuck somewhere, with someone else. What had happened before all this, why couldn't he remember?

It came to his attention that the chair had stopped, and his 'doctor' had left him. The man in white was still there, standing slightly back. In front of him was a T.V., old fashioned, maybe an average size back in 2010, now though it just looked horribly tiny. It was playing a cartoon, Ianto thought it was Mickey Mouse; however, he wasn't really sure, as Jordan never watched Disney, it was always Nick Jr. and CBeebies.

Ianto tightened his throat around the pills, reassuring himself that they were still there. He'd need to get them out or they'd eventually dissolve and the whole process would have been pointless. He looked back out of the corner of his eye; Mr. White was still there, still watching him. Surely he didn't have his own personal guard all the time. Ianto wanted to growl in frustration, he hadn't felt this clueless in years. The last time had been when he'd woken up from being dead to find out he was pregnant. That had been a horrific time. Of course this was shaping up to be a pretty disastrous time itself. Why couldn't he remember?

"HELLO!" A man in matching pale orange stood in front of him. "I'm Billy Bo Jackson! I'm going to be the next prime minister, and then the next president! I'm a great person to get to know! Because I know everyone, I have a lot of power here in this building and I can get things done." The man held an overly white hand out to him. "Who are you?" he asked, his voice loud, as though he was making a speech to a crowd instead of talking to just one person.

Ianto didn't take his hand, or even offer a smile. Instead he turned his head away, it was horribly rude, and for once he didn't care.

"Hello! I am talking to you!" Billy Bo pointed dramatically at Ianto. "You should answer when your betters' talk to you!" When Ianto still didn't respond the man moved to push him, he was however, intercepted by the large man in white.

"That's enough Robert." The man's voice was gruff, yet soothing. It was an odd combination. "You know a good politician always talks to the ladies first." He pointed to a group of women in the dull red scrubs.

"That's sound advice my good man!" Ianto watched as 'Billy' or Robert sauntered away.

His eyes drifted back to the large man, eyeing him thoughtfully. Ianto was sure he could handle himself in a fight with him. What he wasn't sure of was whether he should be fighting him at all; so far he didn't seem like someone who was a threat to him. Just a guy doing his job, in fact everyone just seemed to be doing their jobs. Except for his doctor; she felt off, wrong. She seemed fake, and while he imagined a lot of people might develop masks while working here, he doubted they'd become like her. She'd wanted him not to swallow those pills; she'd wanted to watch them be forced. So either she was just a creepy woman who liked inflicting pain and discomfort, or she had a personal grudge against him.

It didn't make any sense to have a grudge against a crazy person. No, you had grudges against people you were jealous of, or that had wronged you, or even from the people that person associated with. Ianto knew he'd never personally wronged the woman, which left the two other options, and he'd be willing to bet money she didn't like him for working for Torchwood.

"You're confused," the man stated kindly. "It's normal; when you get a new identity you rarely know your whole story. It'll come to you, as if you're just remembering it. It always does. I'm Jeff, in case you forgot."

Ianto glared at him and the man sighed. "We used to be friends you and me. You'd tell me all about your daughters, and your wife. You were a likeable chap. Don't you think this might be easier to do with someone to confide in again?"

Ianto just looked away, turning back to the annoying cartoon.

"Alright, I'll leave you be, but remember I'm a good listener." The man stepped away again.

Ianto pointedly refused to look at him; instead he worked his throat muscles bringing the pills back up. It was slow work, as he tried not to make his movements obvious. When he felt the bitter pills finally rest on his tongue he feigned a sneeze, wiping them on his pants and letting them fall harmlessly to the ground. His heart thudded, waiting to see if anyone was going to notice and force new pills down his throat, but no one did.

Well at least that was one win.

* * *

Please review..?


	12. Chapter 11

A.N. Here's chapter 11! I thought this chapter would be a lot harder to write than it actually was, I'm hoping chapter 12 will be equally easy, sadly I'm not too optimistic of that. School is royally kicking my ass this year, I'm starting to get a bit worried about it. Hope you like this chapter please let me know if you do.

For the quote it also comes from Twilight Street but if you're wondering what Ianto looks like his picture is actually on the cover of this book so you can pull it up. It's a nice picture of our tea boy.

Torchwood Quote:

The right-hand side of his face was half clown make-up.

Why only half, Jack wondered. Owen was a complete clown (in so many ways, he thought wryly). Ianto was still in his suit. Why.

And Ianto in trouble, in possible pain, was enough for Jack. Enough to overcome the nausea, the sickness, the bile. For the first time in his life, he was capable of marching into Tretarri, past the crowds, the street performers, everyone. Until he reached Ianto.

He put a hand to his unpainted cheek.

"Ianto?"

(The Twilight Streets, by Gary Russell, Pg 186)

* * *

Unpleasant or Extraordinary  
By Wildfire  
Chapter Eleven

Jack sat grinning at an excessively large table while Martha sat next to him with a pile of paperwork. In front of them sat a man in a clean-cut, boring suit. Behind him stood a grim-faced female U.N.I.T. Sergeant with two bored looking soldiers bringing up the rear. Both of the soldiers were male, and looking very good in U.N.I.T's new outfit. Eyeing them appreciatively Jack determined to somehow get the updated outfit. It might be wishful thinking to get it in Ianto's size, but Jack never had trouble with fantasies.

"Mr. Hark-" the lawyer started.

"Captain. It's Captain Harkness," Jack interrupted, purring out the word Captain, as he continued to grin.

"My apologies, Captain Hark-"

"Call me Jack," Jack interrupted again, this time winking.

The man cleared his throat. "Captain," he said sharply, obviously disconcerted. "We are here by your-"

"I'm sorry, I missed your name." Jack cut the man off again, his grin never altering. "Someone like you though…" He made a point of roaming his eyes over the lawyer's slim form. "It's probably something exotic. Raphael? Montenegro?"

"That's a country," Martha said calmly and seriously beside him. Her face revealed nothing of the mirth she was currently feeling.

"Is it?" Jack asked looking at her with a broad level smile, before returning his gaze to the man. "It fits you though; a nice long, sexy name."

The man was starting to turn a red around the neck. "Mr. Davis," he said quickly, avoiding Jack's frank appraising stare. "Now, if we could get to the issue at-"

"Issue," Jack said, slapping the table suddenly, making the man jump. The Sergeant and soldiers stiffened as if ready to grab their guns. "Good choice of word, 'issue'. This is an issue. Don't you think this is an issue, Martha?"

Martha nodded. "A definite issue," she deadpanned.

Jack nodded looking back the man. "What's worse is it's my issue," he said aghast. "I always have issues going on. I'm sometimes told that's all I am; just one giant issue. Right, Martha?"

"One giant issue," she agreed again. It was getting increasingly hard to keep her face straight; her jaw ached from the effort.

The man's face was looking decidedly pink. "Mr. Hark-"

"Captain," Jack and Martha reminded him at the same time; Jack in a singsong voice and Martha in a calm monotone.

"Captain," he corrected stiffly. "I assume you wanted this meeting for more than just discussing your title? Now it-"

"Well, of course I did," Jack said darkly. "You decided it was a good idea to take my child. You didn't think I wouldn't come and reprimand that? It's bad enough to steal his father too, but I must insist on the return of my son." His finger jabbed at the table.

"I am not at-"

Jack waved him off. "I do not need you to tell me whether they took them or not; we have our own source's to confirm that," he lied. "I'm not here to discuss what we both already know, so why don't we skip that part of the conversation and move onto the important issue." There was heavy emphasis on the word. "Like my son. I want him returned."

The lawyer sat back, much more relaxed. "Captain Harkness, while I cannot confirm or deny the location of Jacob-Jordan Jack Jones, it is within our power and right to take, monitor, and study life forms that are not native to this planet."

"That it is," Jack agreed with a tight smile. "Of course it also falls under Torchwood's remit to do that very same thing. It's common courtesy to leave this issue to us, as my son and his father are part of our group."

"I would hardly say a child is part of your little group, Captain," the man responded back evenly.

"Perhaps not, but he is my child. As such I think it's only right to leave his welfare to me." Jack leaned forward, his grin still prominent, but no longer playful.

"You may believe that to be your right, I however do not see it that way." The lawyer argued, his tone assured and almost condescending. "You yourself have admitted to not being fully human, thus your child therefore cannot be either. U.N.I.T. has just as much right to detain alien beings as you do. No matter the heritage."

Jack's grin grew predatory. "Did you get that, Martha?"

"Yes." She leaned forward pulling out a small device. The lawyer's voice issued from it, '-not being fully human, thus your child-' She stopped it again, and pulled out a piece of paper, handing it to Jack.

"This is an excerpt of my protection paper that was given to me by the Royal family in 1954. I'd like you to read this part here." He pointed to the paragraph, "As you have just acknowledged Jordan is my child; what some people call my 'issue'. As such he falls under the protection outlined here with me. You cannot detain him in any way, and must release him to me. Now that you are aware of this documentation, for you to go against it would be going against the Crown."

The lawyer stayed silent, staring incredulously at the paper. "Captain Harkness, you do realize U.N.I.T. does not answer to any one government? We are the intelligence for many different countries. The-"

"And doesn't that just sting?" Jack commented. "You guys have mucked up so much the United Nations no longer wants you. What does that U.N. stand for now? Unified right? Of course Britain's always stuck behind you… still funds you. It would be a shame to see that support go just because you don't want to listen to a Royal Agreement." Jack leaned back with a single raised eyebrow.

The layer smirked, pushing the paper back toward Jack. "Mr. Harkness, are you really trying to say that you are so important that the Royal family, who has little power as it is, would try and cut ties with us over you?"

"It's Captain." He held his hand out and Martha passed him another sheet of paper. "And yes, I am. This is a letter from our current Royal family, very pleasant people I might add. I think this will tell you exactly what will happen if my son is not returned to me."

The lawyer gingerly took the folded parchment opening it and reading silently. Jack watched carefully as the man's face slowly started to lose color, until all at once he went stark pale and cleared his throat.

The lawyer nodded. "Alright." He swiveled in his chair. "Sergeant Marino, please go collect Mr. Jones Jr. and bring him here. Immediately."

"Sir-" She started, eyes wide.

"Just do it," he interrupted, quickly and shortly.

Her jaw clenched, but she turned sharply heading from the room.

Jack watched with suppressed glee as the door slammed behind her. He turned his attention back to Mr. Davis.

"Of course you realize this is in no way transferable to Mr. Ianto Jones." The smug assured expression was back on the lawyer's face.

Jack felt a surge of anger but merely nodded, a smile locked back on his face. "Of course not, but—"

Martha held the small recording device up again. '…You yourself have admitted to not being fully human, thus your child therefore cannot be either…' The lawyer's words echoed across the table once more.

Jack grinned. "It was the pregnancy that I induced on Ianto Jones, and the child that then grew inside of him, which caused this issue. If you look at the facts as presented, as you just admitted, neither I, nor my son, are in fact human, therefore Ianto Jones is, in fact, a casualty."

The lawyer's eyes widened, his grip tightening on the papers he was currently holding. "I think that might be a bit of a stretch, with-" he protested, stumbling over the words.

'…You yourself have admitted to not being fully human, thus your child therefore cannot be either…' Martha played the recording again with a small smirk on her lips.

Jack grinned at her before looking back at the lawyer. "I think that really sums it all up. Would you like the number for Ianto Jones's counselor?"

The man glowered. "That will be entirely un-"

The door opened to the sound of a screaming child. The sergeant walked in stiffly, holding the child rather awkwardly as he kicked, screamed and scratched at her. Jack was up out of his seat in a second quickly pulling the child away from her. All mirth gone from his face; the time for acting was over.

Jordan fought him for a second before noticing who he was, then started crying, his small legs and arms clamping around Jack's waist and neck holding him in a tight grip.

"Well, I believe we're done here." Martha stood up gathering her paper work. "Please feel free to contact us with any information you may need to assist with helping Mr. Jones." She smiled pleasantly walking past Jack, her hand going out to gently lay a hand on Jordan's back as she passed.

Jack remained for a moment after she left, eyeing no longer the lawyer, but the sergeant. "I hope you found what you wanted while observing me. Please be aware today was fun; however, if anything is to happen to Mr. Jones, I will no longer be playing." He eyed her once more before following Martha out of the room.

~~**TW**~~

The screaming was deafening in the Hub, the sound seemed to vibrate off every surface. Jack hurried past the cog door, nearly dropping the alien junk he'd just gathered. "What is going on?"

He took in the sight of Martha walking back and forth carrying the screaming child, his small body thrust as far away from her as possible.

"He's throwing a bloody fit, what's it look like is going on?" Martha snapped, yelling to be heard over the screaming."Like he always does when Ianto isn't around! You have no idea! If you thought he was in a horrid mood when you died, you have no idea how bad he gets when Ianto's gone. Ianto just never bloody saw it before! Hell, Katie had never seen it before. That's how little Ianto leaves."

Jack moved over, extracting the toddler from the woman, Jordan continued to emit a wailing scream, but he at least stopped trying to fling himself away. "How long does it last?" Jack shouted.

"Well, last time it lasted a week. When Ianto still wasn't home he went into a bloody depression. And I am not bloody kidding; he stopped sleeping, refused to eat, just sat sniffling and crying softly. We tried to get a message to Ianto to come back early, but he was completely unreachable. Of course he figured we'd all been exaggerating, because the moment Ianto walked in Jordan was suddenly up and moving, laughing and shoving any and all food into his mouth."

Jack rubbed a gentle hand over the child's back, but there was no sign of him calming down. "Can't say I blame him, I don't exactly like the man gone either. Especially when I don't know where he is."

"Jack… I think it'd be best if you took him home tonight," Martha said slowly. They'd brought the boy back from U.N.I.T just a few days ago, and so far, when the child had slept from exhausted crying, it had been once in the Hub and once at Martha's.

Jack frowned. "Someone should be here to monitor the rift."

"We took turns before you came back. Katie already volunteered to stay tonight," Martha responded. "Plus, we both know this isn't about the rift. Ianto won't appreciate you neglecting your son just to wear yourself into the ground. We're working on all the possible place's Ianto might be, a few hours at home isn't going to slow us down."

"I don't need sleep," He replied.

"No, but Jordan does, and he needs you to be there for him. Jack, you're his father."

"I know what I am!" he snapped, "I also know my responsibilities. I'll give Katie Ianto's house key; she can take him home."

"Jack-"

"Do not lecture me, Martha!" Jack quickly moved away from her. Going up to his office he set Jordan down on the couch. Well he tried to, the child however refused to let him go. "Jordan," he coaxed softly, but the child clung tighter. Jack sighed, going over to the desk and sitting down, allowing the child to cling to him.

"I know you miss him, I get that. Trust me. But I promise I'm not going to leave you." He gently ran his hand through Jordan's hair. "What does your tad do when you're upset?" he asked softly.

Jordan's crying slowed and he pulled back just enough to look at Jack. "Sing," he sniffled out, snot running freely, eyes red and blotchy.

Jack grinned, remembering the time when Ianto had sung to attract that alien. He gently wiped Jordan's nose. "He does have a pretty singing voice. Did you know he was in choir once? If you close your eyes and picture him, I bet you can hear him singing."

Jordan sniffled, laying his head on Jack's chest, his little hands clinging tightly to Jack's shirt. For a while, Jack just sat there, as still as possible, trying to be silent. He relaxed when Jordan's body went lax and his breathing deepened. Well at least that was once crisis adverted.

His eyes took in his desk and sighed. Paper's were strewn over it from different leads or possible hiding spots...

So far they'd all come up empty; every single one of them.

* * *

Please review and let me know what you think.


	13. Chapter 12

A.N. Alright you all ready for this chapter? It's another confusing one, so I hope you can follow it alright. We're back with Ianto as I know a lot of you were waiting for.

Wow, thanks for all the fantastic reviews, alerts and favorites! It's fun looking at the stats for this story, as so many people have alerted it. I hope I've kept it entertaining throughout the different chapters. Is anyone really hoping for something to happen? I've got the next few chapters planned out but if anyone is dying to see something happen, let me know and I'll see what I can do. I love working suggestions into my stories; I think it's fun to see where a story can turn and change just from a suggestion!

Today's quote is once again from Twilight streets, I'm sorry! This quote has been planned for this chapter for a while, I promise not to use this book again for a while. Sorry!

Torchwood Quote:

_Gwen stopped walking and just looked at him._

'_What?' he asked._

'_You've had this conversation before, haven't you?''_

'_Might have.'_

'_Jack?'_

'_You honestly think Jack knows anything about music after 1948?'_

'_Who then?'_

'_Doesn't matter.'_

'_Who?' She started walking again. 'Come on. I might die tonight, never knowing.'_

'_Me mam.'_

'_Aww. When she found out about Jack?'_

'_When I was fourteen.'_

_Gwen stopped again. 'I dunno which scares me more—that your mam worked you out ten years before you did, or that the fourteen-year-old Ianto Jones used the phrase "poptastic danceability" without getting beaten up.'_

_Ianto stopped suddenly. 'She didn't work me out, Gwen. No one has. And if I ever do, I'll let you know.'_

(The Twilight Streets, by Gary Russell, page 125-126)

* * *

Unpleasant or Extraordinary  
By Wildfire  
Chapter Twelve

Ianto stumbled into the large white building, his hand clutching tightly round his teddy, and his eyes wide as he stared around the vast room. His tiny hand gripped Rhiannon's tightly; he wasn't sure he liked it here, it smelt funny. His tad walked in front of them, every once in a while turning to tell them to hurry up. Rhiannon never yanked on him though, she stayed by his side walking at his pace.

Ianto grinned when he saw his mother up ahead; she was sitting in a funny chair with wheels and was slouched over one of the arms. He let go of Rhi's hand and toddled as quick as he could to her side.  
"Mam." He smiled up at her, placing his hands on her knee.

Her answering smile was slightly lopsided and Ianto wasn't sure why. Her hand dropped down onto his head and patted his cheek much harder than normal. He tried to keep from grimacing, unsure of what was wrong with his mother.

"Hello, mummy," Rhiannon said, coming to stand beside her younger brother. "Ianto got all the way through his ABC's today. He did it without a single mistake." She nodded, and then looked up to their tad. "Didn't he, tad?" Rhiannon was ten and the apple of their tad's eye.

The man nodded. "He did, and about time too."

Ianto looked up at his mother, waiting for her praise. She was grinning. Leaning forward and grasping Ianto's arms she started to haul him up. "That's my big boy," she said. At the same moment her fingers lost their grip and Ianto fell back to the ground, Rhiannon quickly catching and steadying him.

Ianto was only three and very confused about what was wrong with his mum. She didn't seem bothered in the slightest that she'd just nearly dropped him; in fact she didn't even seem to notice. He heard his father sigh wearily behind him before he was lifted and settled onto the man's hip. He gruffly patted Ianto's back in an awkward form of comfort.

As his father turned away from his mother and began walking towards a desk further along the room. Ianto twisted trying to peer around his tad to see what his mum was doing, but his view was blocked by a large expanse of jumper-clad shoulder.

And then the world stopped, everything and everyone frozen in place like a three-dimensional-photograph. Ianto could briefly hear another voice talking about when he was older. Older?

Ianto blinked. He was six and creeping slowly into the living room. His tad sat on the couch drinking a beer and watching the rugby. He bit his bottom lip, waiting for a commercial before he fully came forward to stand beside his tad.

"Tad? Umm, my light has burned out." He pointed back toward where his room resided.

The man glared at the TV and took another drink of his beer. "So?"

"Can you fix it?" Ianto pulled at his shirt, twisting it nervously in his hands.

"Stop fiddling. You're a boy, man up," his tad barked out standing up. "You whine more than your bloody sister does." He stalked past Ianto into the hall mumbling about bloody mistakes and defective condoms.

Ianto remained where he was; following his tad would just get him yelled at. When he was sure his tad had gone he snuck quietly into the kitchen, where his mother stood over the stove cooking something that smelled like beans. They ate beans a lot.

"Mam? Do I whine more than Rhi?"

She stopped stirring and looked at him. "No, love. No one whines more than Rhiannon. I think it might be physically impossible." She laughed, resuming her stirring. "Why do you ask, love?"

"Tad said I do; he thinks I was a mistake. Was I?" He started pulling at his shirt again.

The spoon clattered into the pan as she dropped to her knees in front of him. "Absolutely not! Your tad has just had a bit too much to drink." She ran a gentle hand over his face, brushing his hair back. Ianto was convinced she had the softest hands of anyone. "You my love, were and are, a wondrous, beautiful, undeniably remarkable surprise. The very best of my life! You and your sister have made my life so amazing and worthwhile! I wake up each morning wondering what my beautiful child might do today! It's exciting, yeah?" His mother was very dramatic in everything she did and very tactile, but Ianto didn't find it odd; it was just what he'd grown up with.

Ianto smiled as her hand continued to pet his head. "Yeah." He stopped fiddling with his shirt leaning in to hug her, which she quickly returned giving him a tight squeeze back.

"What is that ruddy smell?"

Ianto jumped as his father stomped into the kitchen.

"Ohh! The beans!" His mother jumped up quickly, yanking the pan off the stove.

"Alice, be careful!" His tad scolded quickly coming over and pulling her away from the stove. Taking the pan out of her hand he put the beans on an unused burner. "Damn it Alice! You can't leave food unattended on the stove when it's bloody on!"

"Don't you yell at me!" Alice flared back. "I know perfectly well how to cook your bloody dinner! I've had more than a few years of practice now! I was talking with my son! I'm allowed to talk to my son! He's MINE!"

"You're welcome to him, but you still can't leave the food on the stove like that!" He stomped out of the kitchen. "Open some windows and get rid of that smell!" he hollered back.

Ianto watched as his mother stuck her tongue out at his father's back, and he stifled a giggle. She smiled at him.

"Help me open the windows, love?" she asked, leaning over the sink to open one.

Ianto nodded and quickly went to the next window and opened it as well. He came back a moment later to his mother staring at the beans, a frown decorating her face. She smiled when she saw Ianto reenter the room, "It's ruined. Shall we order in?"

Ianto nodded quickly. "Pizza?"

"Alright then, what kind?"

"An odd kind!" he declared with a giant grin.

"An odd kind? Hmm… like what?" she asked, sitting back on the ground beside Ianto.

"White sauced with pepperoni and green peppers!" He giggled.

"Oh bless, that will be odd. Perhaps we'll get a small of that and a large 'Meat Lovers' then?" She smiled, pulling him onto her lap and tickling him.

Ianto let out a squeal of laughter.

And then, everything stopped. Everyone froze.

Ianto blinked. He could hear that voice again - it was so far away - but he knew he could hear it…

Ianto was ten; his birthday had been yesterday. He stared at the kitchen which was still a mess. Tad said he had to clean it up, as it was his party. He slowly stepped into the center of the carnage. It might have been his party, but it'd been his mum and tad that had had the food fight. It'd been horrendous, and disastrous. He'd never seen one of his parents domestics get so bad; he hoped he never would again. This one had ended with his mother having a break down and his father taking her to the 'clinic'.

Ianto vowed to never bring his mates around again.

He pulled out a clean wash cloth got on his knees and started cleaning - later he'd realize he shouldn't have started with the floor…

And then, once again, everything stopped.

Ianto was fourteen and sitting at the kitchen table, with his mam and tad sitting on opposite sides. Rhiannon had moved out a few months back and he hadn't seen her since. His tad, for once, was sitting with them at the table while they ate bean burritos. Ianto missed Rhiannon horribly, but since she'd gone his relationship with his tad had really started to develop. They'd even gone to the cinema a few times.

Ianto was thriving with the attention; he loved hanging out with his tad, just the two of them.

"Ianto," his tad said, around a mouthful of food Ianto wished he'd swallow. "Rugby season is starting up in a month or so. When's your school having tryouts?"

"Next Sunday," he replied, setting his burrito down. "Ticket prices are only £5 if you go with a student, but the season won't start for a while yet."

"I won't be going with a student; I'll be going to see you play. What position will you be going for?"

"I… I wasn't planning on trying out for it," Ianto confessed.

"Don't be mental! You're Welsh! The Welsh play rugby! You're going to try out for the team."

"Darin, you can't make him—" his mother started.

"I can too. You're going to try out, my boy!" His eyes glared at Ianto as if daring him to disagree.

"Hunny, really. Rhi always liked dance, perhaps we could do dance instead."

"Dance! Alice I am not having my son in dance! He's not a fag."

"Well, of course he isn't! He's bi," she announced with a nod of her head.

That had been the end of any blossoming relationship with his tad. It didn't matter that Ianto denied it. That he claimed he only liked women. Perhaps even then they'd both already known that his mother was right.

And then the image stopped; just froze. The voice. He could almost hear it coming from the kitchen. Was it talking to him?

Jack sat at his desk, grinning like a fool and holding a yellow folder up before him. Filing. Big surprise. Ianto stepped forward to grab it. Jack opened his mouth, and then just as suddenly his mouth slammed shut. Jack moved around the office as if he was talking, but his lips didn't move. Ianto gestured to something Jack should have been saying…

Why…

The office grayed, shifted. He could almost see a room, a room with white walls, his body jerked—

Ianto was fifteen, staring at the closed coffin that held his mother. He wouldn't cry, he wouldn't—

NO, this wasn't right. He wasn't here. The room started graying out again.

He could hear voices.

"He's fighting it." A male voice.

"So set it to a higher setting." A female voice; his doctor's voice. Memories surfaced. He had a doctor and he was in a mental institute.

"It's already set at the highest setting that won't melt his brain," the male voice snapped back. "We can't endanger him."

"I know! It was working before," she argued hotly.

"Yes, when we were asking harmless questions about his past."

"So go back to that!" Ianto felt like smiling at their obvious discomfort.

"I tried. He's recognized it now though. He's blocking it, he's obviously been trained."

Ianto finally realized he could open his eyes. He did so, blinking as he stared around the white room. His doctor was easy enough to spot, as she stood scowling at a man. The man wore a white lab coat, had gray hair and a blond goatee. He smiled kindly at Ianto.

"Welcome back with us Mr. McCloud. You had quite the spill. Are you feeling better?" he asked, offering Ianto a glass of water.

Ianto ignored him, sitting up he looked to his doctor. "All Torchwood One employees were required to have basic psychic training," he said with a slight smirk. There was no reason to sensor certain things any more. He knew he was dealing with U.N.I.T. He'd known for a few days who it was that had him. He'd remembered that letter and the horrid camp. "Where's my son?" It was a question he asked every time he saw the woman.

"Mr. McCloud, you do not have a son," she said through gritted teeth. "You've been here your whole life."

"Sure, so why does U.N.I.T. not want you to melt my brain away? I would have thought that'd be an acceptable loss for information?"

"You're being paranoid, Mr. McCloud. I think it's time for you to rest in your room." She looked at her watch. "It's about time for 'quiet-time' anyway."

"When I woke up here, I no longer had my cast. What happened to it?" Ianto asked swinging his feet onto the floor. He continued to ignore the man in the white coat. He wasn't important.

"Your arm was never broken, Mr. McCloud. Now I'm going to fetch Jeffery."

"You really like saying that name. Was it you who named me?" he asked with a smirk.

She turned around to face him again. "If I call you by the silly name you gave yourself will you eat?"

Ianto just grinned. It wasn't that he was starving himself; not at all, in fact. He simply never ate when he was worried, and worry was all he'd done since he got here. He couldn't stand not knowing where his son was. That, however, didn't stop him from exploiting the fact that his reticence to eat annoyed his doctor.

"We'll put a tube in your stomach if you don't start eating soon." She crossed her arms, sending a stern look in his direction.

Ianto didn't respond, and they both knew he'd just pull it out. Might hurt like hell, but it certainly wasn't going to kill him. He supposed he ought to be grateful that U.N.I.T. wasn't running tests on him. He wondered how Jack had managed to pull that off, though in all honesty he didn't really care so long as he'd got Jordan to safety first. He would give just about anything to know if the boy was alright.

"Mr. McCloud?" She snapped her fingers trying to attract his attention and Ianto raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh, you're hopeless, you are." She left the room in exasperation, the door swinging shut behind her.

Ianto finally turned his attention to the man in the white coat. "Get me out of here and I'll get you a job in Torchwood. It's much better than U.N.I.T." he offered half heartedly.

The man smiled softly. "I think you might be driving her slightly barmy. Really, Mr. McCloud, you ought to at least try. She's only trying to help."

"Oh? What was it that you used on me to draw those memories up?" Ianto brought his legs up, sitting cross legged on the bed.

"We didn't use anything on you, Mr. McCloud. You just had a bit of a fit." The man looked down to write on his electronic pad.

"You said I had a spill earlier," Ianto corrected softly. "Be careful not to mix your stories up; I might realize I'm not really mental," he deadpanned.

"Your spill brought on the fit." The man's voice had grown tighter, more defensive.

"Of course." Ianto gave him a small conciliatory smile. "Can you tell whoever you're talking to, that my clothing has grown too large and I need a size smaller? Jack's going to have a fit when he sees me; he always thinks I'm too thin. Sometimes I think he likes fat men, he always did eye up Rhys back in the day. Though I doubt he would any more; Rhys is certainly showing his age. Jack likes them younger, well younger looking at least." Ianto eyed the man up and down. "You might make the cut."

The man's cheeks colored red. He clicked the clipboard off and stood up. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I have other patients to see tonight. You have a good night." Just as the man reached the door his doctor opened it, stalking in without even glancing at the departing man. Jeffery, still garbed in gleaming white, trailed in behind her.

"Mr. McCloud, if you'd be so kind." She gestured toward the door. "We'll stop at the kitchen to get some dinner, then you can spend the remainder of the night relaxing and recovering from your spill."

Ianto stood up, giving her a tight lipped smile. He didn't argue as he headed toward the door. They both knew he wouldn't be eating anything.

* * *

Reviews please? Any thoughts?


	14. Chapter 13

A.N. wow, we made it to the teens. I feel as if I should do a happy dance. This chapter I restarted about 5 times trying to make it work right, finally I settled with style. I wrote this chapter completely differently than all the other chapters.

We're about done here soon, few more chapters left. I have a sequel in mind. Any interest in that? Please let me know.

I was hoping to reach a 100 reviews before this chapter, I didn't quite make it, but it was close.

So today's quote comes from Pack Animals, I know I do this book a lot but it really was one of my favorites.

Torchwood Quote:

_Jack chased after him up the incline towards the Bengal compound. 'Did you see that sign?' he grumbled. 'They spelled "tiger" wrong.'_

_Ianto tutted. 'It's supposed to be tiegr. God, how long have you been in Cardiff, Jack?'_

'_Long enough.'_

'_Long enough to have learned a bit of Welsh, that's for sure,' puffed Ianto._

_Jack pouted. 'I promise to be fluent by the time you introduce me to your family.'_

'_Then you have plenty of time to learn,' muttered Ianto._

(Pack Animals, by Peter Anghelides. Pg 100-101)

* * *

Unpleasant or Extraordinary  
By Wildfire  
Chapter Thirteen

Jack sat in the park, staring at the bright play-set. Kids ran around screaming as they tried to catch each other or race up the slide, while toddlers were pushed on the swings or played in the sand. Parents laughed with or yelled for their children as they played. Jack sat on the bench with Jordan perched on his lap, arms clinging to him. He'd half-heartedly tried to persuade Jordan to go and play, but to be honest he didn't really care. It wasn't that he didn't care about Jordan; he just didn't think it that imperative that the boy play in the dirt while his tad was being held somewhere.

Truth be told, Jack had no interest in being here. Martha had literally kicked him out of the Hub this morning, saying she was still in charge and he was leaving. He wasn't allowed back until after seven tonight. Part of him just wanted to get up and start searching blind for Ianto; no matter how fruitless it would be. However, the more logical part of his brain had won out, so now he was sat on a wooden bench, in a crowded park, watching happy children run about.

He hated them. Hated their happiness.

It was a childish feeling, lacking any logic, but it was there nonetheless.

Ianto should be here, scolding Jordan for getting dirty and cleaning up other peoples' dog shit. He should be glaring at Jack for every inappropriate comment he makes, putting his hands on his hips or running a hand through his hair pretending he isn't upset or embarrassed. He should be smiling that little smile of contentment when Jack manages to say the right thing at the right time. He should be avoiding eye contact when his feelings are hurt. He should be here.

But he wasn't.

~~**TW**~~

"Sergeant, this report is rubbish!" The folder slapped down onto the desk with a loud smack. "I gave you this assignment under the assumption you could handle it. Was I incorrect?" The towering form of the man stood over the desk, his eyes glaring at the woman behind it.

She looked up calmly, her face impassive, though her eyes were weary. "Sir, I am quite capable of handling this. It is just that Mr. Jones is very—"

"Did I ask for you for excuses, Sergeant? No. I asked for results." He jabbed a finger into the folder. "And what do you give me? Stories about his childhood. Why on earth would I give a damn about his ruddy childhood? I want to know about Torchwood!"

"Sir, if I may—"

"You may not! You can, however, get me results or I'll kick you off this assignment and send you back to training! You realize that every day Harkness gets closer to him? Every day we risk losing this very loose hold we have! And you are sitting there, playing with his childhood memories? What the _hell_ is wrong with you? Maybe we ought to check YOU into that mental hospital. BRING ME RESULTS!" Swinging round he stomped from the small office, the door slamming behind him with enough force to rattle the frame.

The woman stared at the door for a moment before slowly picking the file up and laying it carefully within a drawer. If he wanted results, then she'd get results.

~~**TW**~~

He hated Torchwood, he hated U.N.I.T., he hated his mum, he hated his sister, but he didn't hate his godfather. His eyes clamped shut, the cell phone clutched tightly within his grasp. His eyes slowly opened to stare once more at the message.

'Away team has removed GF'

That was it. One stupid little line, but it meant it his godfather was in danger. It meant he had to go back, because there was no choice. There was never a choice when his godfather was concerned. He'd gladly forsake any company, country or even world for his godfather. Some people had mother complexes or father complexes; he had a godfather complex. Everyone else could go screw themselves, specially his sister. Little princess from hell.

His eyes drifted to the text message again. Now it was just a matter of how to go about finding him. He had resources that Torchwood didn't; he had access codes and clearance to areas they didn't even know about. The problem was snooping without drawing attention to himself; if he attracted any attention then he'd be locked out and probably meet with an unfortunate accident.

He pulled out his laptop, staring at the closed lid for half a second before opening it. First he had to contact an old friend.

There was no choice.

~~**TW**~~

Mica stood staring at the cabin that had once housed her uncle and cousin. They'd already been over every inch of the place, and U.N.I.T. wasn't stupid enough to leave them a clue. A calm gentle breeze washed over her; she could make a deal of the wind, thinking of it as the gentle caresses of lost friends. But she wasn't that stupid either.

With a deep breath she strode into the cabin. It wasn't half bad inside. A little dingy, but not as terrible and miserable as she had feared. However, she did wonder what it had looked like before her uncle had stayed there. She turned the lights off, shut the blinds and slipping on some gloves, took an object from her pocket that looked vaguely similar to a pencil sharpener. She threw it to the ground. Immediately the room was bathed in a light green glow; the floor appearing dark green from the many foot prints that showed the tread of those that had once walked across it.

She'd stolen the object from the archives and knew Martha would have her head for it soon, but it was worth the massive chew-out. She walked slowly forward, eyes scanning over the different surfaces; there had to be something.

She stopped just as she was about to enter the kitchen. Right by the outer counter there was a spot – a light green spot. She knelt down, examining the area where either a piece of carpet had been replaced, or had been thoroughly cleaned with something so powerful that it couldn't be from Earth. She ran a gloved fingertip over the spot softly, watching as it turned slightly darker for a moment. She looked back at the object in the middle of the room, her heart slamming against her chest. It was no mystery why the object was not allowed to be used.

She looked back at the spot; it looked clean. The risk was lessened by that, but not by much. In the end the risk was immaterial. This was the only option they hadn't tried. She had to try.

Taking another deep breath, she slipped a mouth guard between her teeth, removed the glove from her right hand and pressed her palm flat to the spot.

Pain seized her body, pain so intense she couldn't have cried out even if she'd wanted to. Every muscle screamed and locked within her. Her stomach tightened so far she was sure it'd tear; her body trembled violently, spasming as though she was in the throes of a fit. Maybe she was.

Ianto's voice slammed into her brain with a force that made her vision black.

"_NO! Don't you bloody touch him! Jordan!"_

"_Be calm Mr. Jones. We just have to remove the tracking system embedded in his arm." The voice was male and mellow. Perfectly calm._

"_PUT THAT BLOODY KNIFE AWAY!"_

_Jordan's scream pierced the room._

And Mica screamed with him.

~~**TW**~~

Cynthia pulled at her red scrubs, trying to make herself pay attention to the pills she was handing out to the patients, but she couldn't stop looking at him. Michael McCloud. Her eyes always drifted back to the man. He was so young; but she'd seen the young here before. It was his eyes that had first attracted her to him. It wasn't because they were beautiful—which they were—it was that they lacked that bit of insanity. They lacked that odd little spark that said, 'I don't see anything like you'. They held intelligence and knowledge. Sometimes she could swear his eyes looked old enough to belong to her mother.

Still, even with his curious eyes, what was more alluring was the fact that she was allowed to know nothing about him. He came into the common area just as everyone else did, but he had a personal guard that never left his side. He didn't sit with others in the lunch room, or join arts and crafts, and she didn't give him his pills. She was told he got them specifically from his doctor, and he was given different activities to keep him busy. She wished she knew what those activities were.

His doctor was another oddity. She had shown up with the patient, just appeared, and no one was allowed to question it or even mention it. She never talked with Michael, beyond basic polite enquiries, and she never sat down and listened to him either. No one else was allowed to even go near him, so he would sit there by himself doing nothing, clearly uninterested in the cartoons. Never once had she seen the doctor try to do anything to treat the fact that he was getting horribly skinny either. The most she did was set a plate in front of him. When he didn't eat she'd just take it away.

The most alarming thing about the man though, was his guard. Jeffery Parker. Jeffrey had been fired from here not a year ago, when he had been found molesting some of the more… insane patients. Fired and sent to jail. Yet there he stood, in the white scrubs, eyes glued to the young man in front of him. Her friend Karin had brought it up with their superior; Karin had been put on suspension, for allegedly giving too many pills to a patient. No one had said anything since.

She'd been watching Mr. McCloud for a while now. He didn't show any signs of abuse, which she was relieved about, as she wasn't sure what she could do if he did. She wasn't even allowed to mention him, let alone question his care. Would it do any good to bring it up with the police? Surely they had to know that Jeffery was working here again; he'd be on probation. They had to know where he worked.

Right?

~~**TW**~~

Jack stood in Ianto's kitchen staring at the disarray in the flat. He didn't think it was that bad, but he knew Ianto wouldn't agree: the couch pillows were mussed from Katie sleeping on them; there were coffee mugs on the tables—without coasters—; a couple of toys left out in the vain hope that Jordan might play with them…

He could continue the list, but what would be the point? He hadn't lost Ianto to death; instead he lost him to abduction. He'd never hated U.N.I.T. more than he did at that moment. He didn't, or hadn't, expected everything in his life to be perfect just because of one Welsh man, but he'd hoped.

Hope. It was an emotion he thought he'd lost the ability to have since the Doctor had called him wrong. What more was there to hope for after that? He was doomed to live forever, watching his friends and family die. When he'd first left it was to try and find a race that didn't die so quickly, but he'd really just wanted to come back to Earth. Earth, while not the planet he was born to, was his home.

Jack closed his eyes, inhaling the scent of the flat. It still smelled like Ianto, warm and comforting, a heady mixture of his woody-toned aftershave mingled irresistibly with the inevitable aroma of freshly ground coffee. Eventually that scent would die out, already the scents of Katie's perfume, Ianto's cupboards full of cleaning products and the faint stench of damp that always accompanied an unheated house were intruding. He hated that thought, hated knowing the man was alive, but completely unreachable to him. Hated that his grasp on Ianto was fading as surely as his scent.

The sound of the funeral march jerked him from his brooding. He quickly moved over to the coffee table. Katie's phone was flashing as it rang the morbid tune. She was… well, he didn't actually know where she'd run off to honestly. He picked the phone up.

"Hello?" he answered.

* * *

Reviews, thoughts? Who do you guys think the unnamed man is with a friend? Can you guess?


	15. Chapter 14

A.N. Sorry about the delay in this chapter! My baby (Ferret) got really sick and it was touch and go for a bit if he'd even make it. All my free time was spent nursing him and any time I did manage to get besides that was spent toward school. I'm so sorry you had to wait, I hope you find this chapter worth the wait though. We have one maybe two chapters left to go! Let me know what you think!

As an extra goodie I received a wonderful e-mail from ZC who made pictures of how she thinks Jordan looks. They are absolutely adorable! My favorite is the second one; if you want to look check it out.

soritohc dot livejournal dot com/3315 dot html (change dot and no space)

Torchwood Quote:

'You wait for me here. If I don't manage to find Oscar and stop all this… well, just do what you can. Drive. Get back to the Hub.'

But Ianto shook his head, suddenly decisive. 'No. If you're going, I'm coming with you.'

'No way.' Jack said. 'My own stupidity I can live with. I'm not having you risking _your_ life.'

(Bay of the Dead by Mark Morris, pg 206-207)

* * *

Unpleasant or Extraordinary  
By Wildfire  
Chapter Fourteen

Ianto wondered as he lay on the small cot if it was actually possible to die from boredom. Not that it really mattered; it wasn't like he'd stay dead. It was still an odd thought though, thinking he'd just pop back up if someone killed him.

So far however, no physical harm had been done to him; he'd been handled with care and gentleness. He'd come to the conclusion that they were either trying to lull him into a false sense of security or some sort of deal had been worked out.

Was it possible that Torchwood knew where he was, but were leaving him here? Maybe they kept Jordan, but he had to stay? Not that he'd blame them; he was more than happy to stay if Jordan was free. He only wished he knew for sure that his son was safe. Of course a T.V. might be nice too; if he ever got out of here he was going to inform Jack that all negotiations of conditions should include the use of a T.V.

He looked up as the door creaked open and his doctor slipped into the room.

"Mr. McCloud." She shut the door and took a seat in the small chair in front of the bed. Ianto was somewhat surprised when his guard didn't follow her in.

"Mr. McCloud," she started again, tapping at her electronic note pad. "You've been a… difficult case. This last mind warp you did has made you completely unreasonable. And now with this lack of eating, you're becoming a danger to yourself. It is only logical to conclude you might become dangerous to others as well if you continue to show no improvement."

Ianto looked at her out of the corner of his eye, not bothering to sit up. The logic was obviously flawed, she was scrambling, trying to maintain control on her increasingly fragile hold over him.

"As you know, or perhaps you don't, I was hired from an outside company to handle your case. It is very important to my company that you are respected and cared for. We have done everything possible to ensure your safety. Of course that's not to say we're perfect, after all you're surrounded by people that are _not_ hired by my company. We had hoped you would have progressed enough that we could safely move you to a more secure site, one without the dangers of other people." She gave him an appraising look and shook her head, disapproval written clearly across her hard face. "Of course, as you are still unwilling to share with us any information about the world you believe you live in, it is only logical to conclude you are not safe to undertake such a move."

Ianto turned his head to look at her. The threat was clear. The rest of his immortal life caged in this facility. Or worse.

She stared back at him, a small smirk pulling at her lips. "For example, your guard Jeffery works for this building, not for my company." She tutted. "I know absolutely nothing about the man, why he might be a murderer for all I know. Not that he is, of course, I'm just using him as an example."

Ianto sat up on his elbows, eyes narrowed. She wasn't even trying to play along with their little ruse anymore, but was giving him an out-and-out ultimatum.

"But, if you were to say, show improvement, perhaps by explaining this world that you believe you live in, then I'm sure my company will allow me to move you to a better location. With more appropriate activities, perhaps a personal T.V., which might even include exotic channels."

Ianto blinked at that, was she now really trying to tempt him with porn? Granted, yes, he was feeling a bit deprived of affection, going as long as he had with no physical contact, but it was a very small feeling compared to his other worries. He sat up, sitting cross legged on the bed, and leant forward.

Eyes intent, she mirrored his pose, leaning forward towards him.

Ianto made sure his face was properly schooled before he spoke. "Where's my son?" he asked kindly.

Her face fell, and she smacked her pad down on her knees in obvious frustration. "Why don't you tell me about him?" she asked tightly.

"He's mine," he responded, his voice clipped.

"How old is he?"

"Old enough." Ianto's eyes challenged hers.

"Old enough for what?"

"To know I'm not around."

"What's his hair color?"

"His own color."

"What's his name?"

"What he responds to."

She stood up abruptly. "I tried, Jones. I tried and I tried. The outcome of this is your own fault!"

"Aren't I McCloud?" Ianto asked with a barely contained smirk. He just got a slammed door in reply. He smiled as he lay back down, considering the fact that he'd apparently need to watch his own back from now on. He wondered what they were going to have Jeffery do. Or maybe it wouldn't be Jeffery; perhaps it'd be someone else. Someone he didn't know. Not that it mattered really, since one human attacking him was pretty much the same as another.

Hmm, he hoped they'd use a human. Releasing a weevil in here sounded like a rather horrifying event. He imagined the patients would handle that better than the doctors.

**~~TW~~**

Ianto blinked instantly alert as he heard the click of his door opening. He sat up waiting those few anxious seconds before the person appeared. It was not the dulled out red of his doctor that crept into the room, but the bright clinical white of Jeffery's outfit.

Ianto forced his body to relax giving a closed mouth smile to the tall man.

"Mr. McCloud," he recited."Your Doctor is away today, so I will be with you to ensure your health and well being." Ianto had the suspicion the man had practiced that little speech repeatedly.

Ianto said nothing, merely giving him a nod and continuing to watch him for any signs of foul play.

"Your doctor recommended we spend the day here, as she's not around if you should have an episode. I think we ought to start with your medication, which we're going to do in shot form today as we ran out of your pills. But you'll be happy to know we still have some in liquid form… so, if you'll please hold your arm out." He pulled out a plastic syringe filled with a clear yellowish liquid holding it high in front of him, reminding Ianto of an over dramatic 70's movie.

"I'd prefer it if you'd go find the pills," Ianto said pleasantly keeping the tight lipped smile on his face, "…as we both know you didn't run out."

"Really Mr. McCloud, you're being paranoid," Jeffrey replied just as pleasantly. "Please hold out your arm, or I will force you."

Ianto's eyes narrowed. "Why not call for another guard? It'd make forcing me much easier."

"It is not about ease, Mr. McCloud. It's my job to assist you. It is their job to assist others." He took a step toward Ianto. "Your arm, Mr. McCloud." All trace of pleasantness had vanished.

Ianto didn't move, but just sat there on one knee with the other bent in front of him. He had them both anchored in the sheets ready to spring should the need arise. He had to admit part of him was a little disappointed that Jeffery had turned out to be one of the enemy, as he really had thought the man was a decent fellow. Then again he never really had been the best judge of people. He tended to trust and mistrust everyone equally. There were very few people had he trusted enough to tell his secrets, both past and present.

He didn't have any more time to mull that thought over as the large man suddenly lunged for him. Ianto dived away, forward and sideways, thinking the lunge was a tad more dramatic than necessary. Seriously, he thought critically, you manhandle and wrestle first, you don't start with a bloody lunge! Landing in a crouch on the ground beside the bed his eyes immediately locked onto Jeffery. The man was struggling to regain his balance from landing on the small bed and appeared to be battling with the tangled sheets. When he did finally regain his balance he wasted no time in lunging again, a maneuver which Ianto easily avoided springing backwards out of his crouch beyond Jeffrey's reach. The man was clearly well built, but his speed was also just as clearly lacking.

"This is a bit extreme isn't it Jeffery? What's in that syringe? Something to knock me out? Make me have scary hallucinations? Or perhaps something to make me less of a threat as you knock me about?" Ianto side-stepped another lunge as he spoke - the man was clearly not a fighter.

"It... is... just... your medication!" Jeffrey puffed out, breathing hard, but Ianto suspected it was more from adrenalin than actually being winded. The man was well built, but his bulk was muscle, not fat and there was little reason for him to be short of breath from the simple lunges he was doing.

"And I'm just a normal guy." Ianto mocked with a little smirk. "Did you know—" He cut off as the whole building suddenly gave a violent shudder. Ianto's attention momentarily drifted to the window and it was in that moment Jeffery lunged again stabbing the syringe into Ianto's shoulder.

Ianto gave a cry of surprise as he landed on the ground with the Jeffrey on top of him. He turned his head to glare at him. "Bad move, Jeffrey." He punched him in the temple with enough force that he wouldn't be surprised if the blow killed the other man. Ianto didn't really take much notice of death anymore; if Jeffrey lived, good for him. If he died… well, then he was dead.

He rolled the unmoving heavy man off him and stood up, grasping the wall as the whole world tilted in an alarming manner. He mouthed a few choice words as he carefully crouched down methodically going through the man's pockets to find his access key card. As his hand closed about it Ianto stood up, more slowly this time, but that didn't stop the world from spinning any less. He stumbled toward the door, attempting to swipe the card three times before he realized the door was already unlocked.

Ianto pushed the door open the rest of the way peering out into the hallway. He was a little surprised to see other residents doing the same thing. It looked as though his wasn't the only door which had been released. Not to mention that there was currently no sign of any doctors or guards. Interesting…

He needed to find a computer, and quickly, before he lost his ability to stay upright. He stumbled down a hallway ignoring the jeers and comments from the other patients around him. It didn't matter what they wanted at the moment, what mattered was what he needed. Hearing the thundering of feet up ahead he quickly ducked into what looked like a supply closet, pulling the door to until all he could see was a thin sliver of the corridor beyond. He silently watched as men and women dressed in the dull red scrubs of the staff ran past to go and contain the wandering patients. He knew he couldn't stay here long; they'd start looking for any inmates that might be hiding and he doubted they'd believe him when he said Jeffery's injuries were inflicted in self defense.

As the last person vanished from sight, he slowly inched back out of the door taking a second to look at it. It was electronic and the circuit was dead. This wasn't an accident; a dead circuit in these doors would cause the doors to lockdown not unlock. Someone had hijacked the system, first to unlock it and then to short circuit it and make sure the doors stayed open.

Was Jack here?

Did he dare hope he was already in the process of being rescued? Did he dare think that the timing of today's final attack was not coincidental? It wasn't that farfetched, his doctor had clearly been on edge - had she known their time had run out?

Ianto took a deep breath. It was slightly irrelevant. Whilst there was a good chance that his team were here, looking for him, there was an equally good chance they weren't and this attack on the hospital was entirely unrelated to his presence. Either way he still needed to get to a computer. He had to at least try and get a message out. If his team—Jack—were here then they would find him. They were good at finding people…usually.

He managed to stumble halfway down another hallway – was it the second one he'd been in? The third? It couldn't still be the first…could it? The world was rapidly becoming wavy, each step feeling increasingly like he was walking in a fun house where the floor changed height on him constantly. He struggled to keep walking, but numbness was spreading down through his legs and his eyes couldn't focus, no matter how hard he tried to concentrate. His thoughts clouded. He was having trouble remembering even where he was. No, that's not right, he knew where he was. He was in the mental hospital.

God, how he hated mental hospitals, they were horrid places filled with bad memories.

Memories.

He had a lot of memories. He wondered if someday he'd lose them, maybe that's what he wanted? No, he decided abstractly, he didn't, although then he doubted he'd get a say in the matter.

How did he end up on the floor? He looked around. Well he meant to, but his head didn't seem to move. Nothing seemed to be moving. Why was nothing moving? He couldn't remember, had he been shot? Was he dying? Had he already died? Where was he?

He felt panic rise within him, his thoughts circling wildly. He still had no idea where he was or why he was on the ground. He didn't feel tired, so it wasn't likely that he was losing blood. Maybe he was dying? Had someone shot him? Oh God, he couldn't move. Why couldn't he move? Where was he?

Ianto gasped as a hand seized his shoulder and he was rolled over until the grubby white ceiling tiles came into hazy view. He stared up at a familiar face. Their lips were moving, saying his name over and over. Ianto couldn't see the reason why they kept doing that. It seemed useless, he knew who he was; it was the only thing he did know for certain. He let out a shallow grunt as the man grabbed him beneath his lifeless arms and started dragging him down the hallway. Hallway? When had he got in a hallway? Where was he?

He grinned slackly as he saw an equally familiar woman jog up to him. He blinked when he felt her shut his mouth. Why had his mouth been open? Her hands felt warm as they pressed against his neck. He could see her talking, but he wasn't really sure what she was saying, and try as he might he just couldn't bring himself to focus. He felt his head flop to the side against the man's chest. It was a strong chest, a nice chest… but it wasn't Jack's. Where was Jack? Where _was_ he?

It took him a minute to realize he was moving again, he wasn't walking… someone was carrying him. Two people, right… he knew them. He wondered briefly where they were taking him, however the thought was gone from his head almost as fast as it came. In fact lots of thoughts were drifting in and out of his head, but he couldn't seem to make any of them stay still long enough to focus on them.

Ianto gagged as he felt his mouth gently being pried open and a gloved finger jammed down it. The vomit came quick; he wasn't sure what the point of that was, but he would greatly appreciate if it didn't happen again. When had he been set back down?

Probing fingers pulled back his eye lids and for a second there was a blinding white light. He really wished he could remember how to lift his arm to swat them away. This really wasn't necessary.

Oh God, his chest felt wet. Did he have vomit on him? A wave of helpless disgust surged through him.

Ianto blinked as his blurred vision was suddenly blinded by a dark material, large hands cradling his face. Ianto felt like smiling. Even blind he could recognize their touch. They were Jack's hands. He felt the slightly rough surface of Jack's thumb run over his eye brows, then over his cheek bones. He couldn't quite make the man out as his vision swam in and out of focus, but the touch was enough in its reassurance. He could feel Jack, and when he was suddenly gathered against the slightly larger man, he could smell him, the acid scent of vomit obliterated by the musky spicy scent that was undeniably Jack.

He wasn't sure how long he was in Jack's arms or even if they'd moved. In fact it wasn't until a few hours later that he came to, to find himself bundled up in a large bed. Turning his head, he looked around the room; he was clearly in a hotel. As Ianto struggled to sit up his stomach lurched and he found himself crashing off the bed as he threw up on the pretty blue carpeted floor. His arms shook as his body expelled the contents of his stomach and he realized with a horrible certainty that he was about to collapse right into the mess he'd just made.

He felt instant relief when he was suddenly gripped from behind and strong arms held him steady as he struggled to get his stomach back in gear. When he finally stopped retching he was pulled backwards, the wonderful scent of Jack overloading his senses.

"Better?" Jack's chest rumbled as he spoke.

Ianto gave a slightly pathetic noise of agreement into Jack's neck. "Jordan?"

"Is home with Martha and Katie," Jack answered running his hand through Ianto's hair. "He's fine; missing you, but he's alright."

Ianto closed his eyes relaxing into Jack's grip.

"What _is_ that smell?" The voice was deep and sounded distinctly angry. The sound of the door closing came next as the man came into view. "Gross." His noise wrinkled as he turned to open the windows in the room.

"Quit whining R.J.," Ianto grumbled. "You have no idea the stuff I cleaned up after you."

R.J. shot him a grudging smile. "You know, at some point you're going to have to let that go. I already look older than you now. You keep saying stuff like that and people are really going to think one of us has a mental problem. Of course you have stayed at an asylum now."

"Mental hospital," Ianto corrected with the tiniest of shudders.

R.J. came over laying a towel over the mess on the carpet. "Whatever." He sat down on the bed. "You scared the shit outta me. You were drooling on yourself."

Ianto smiled. "I've watched you do that too," he said with a little grin.

"It doesn't count when you're a bloody infant," R.J. grumbled. "You are hopeless, you are." He crossed his arms, but he couldn't hide the small smile on his lips.

"Wasn't there someone else I saw with you, or was I imagining that?" Ianto asked shifting himself in Jack's hold just enough to be able to look at R.J. a little easier.

R.J. nodded. "Clara's here, she's out with David now. They've been dancing about each other all week. Not sure who they're trying to fool, though it's probably my sister." He spat the last word with a roll of his eyes.

"You know, eventually you two are going to have to get over this… attitude you both have towards each other. Life's too short; especially in the professions you've both chosen," Ianto said. Then he blinked looking up at Jack. "Why are you so silent?" Jack being quiet was usually a sign he was pissed or beyond exhausted.

Jack grinned down at him. "Because anytime I talk around Mr. Cranky-pants here I get snapped at." He nodded toward R.J.

R.J. glared. "I don't snap, I just think you shouldn't talk if you don't have anything viable to add to the conversation."

"Well, you were talking about drool. Shall I tell you about the different times I've drooled on your godfather—?"

"Jack!" Ianto cut him off, his face already turning red. "Perhaps silence might be best."

That made both R.J. and Jack smile.

* * *

Reviews? It was a little less dramatic than I originally pictured but I thought to tone it down a little. Let me know what you think.


	16. Chapter 15

A.N. So this is the last real chapter, you still have an epilogue but this is the last full chapter. I'm honestly a little sad to see the story ending I really enjoyed writing this one.

So sorry for the delay in this chapter, I ended up having to put my ferret down and I was a bit of a mess for about a week. Sorry if this chapter is a bit overly mushy, I suppose I feel slightly clingy myself after losing him. I hope you'll all still love and adore this chapter though.

At the beginning you do start a little back in time before the rescue, I thought it important to see Jack's thoughts on that.

Ok, real quick mini rant I FINALLY was able to get Doctor Who season 5 on netflix, I get two disc's at once I was so excited and then it gets here and there's only two episodes per disc. WHO puts only two episodes on a disc?

Sorry… ANYway onto our Torchwood quote for the day:

'Jack.' The name was suddenly unfamiliar, and for a moment Ianto couldn't see Jack's face in the space in his brain where it belonged.

'It's here.' The words rasped out of him, no purity in the sound and no breathing from his diaphragm, just sheer effort and desperation, and the minute he'd spoken he wasn't sure he could repeat the sentence, even if his life depended on it.

Life.

(Into the Silence, by Sarah Pinborough. Pg 158)

* * *

Unpleasant or Extraordinary  
By Wildfire  
Chapter Fifteen

Jack wanted to scream in exasperation; so far everything was a bloody mess. They'd managed to find out Ianto's location thanks to Gwen's son R.J., but that was the end of any good news.

Up to this point, their progression had been hampered by bickering and complaining, and of course it didn't help that Mica was currently in the medical bay in a coma because of her own stupidity. Jack would have throttled her, if her life wasn't already on the line. What was worse was that what she had done could have given them valuable information that they may have actually been able to use.

"Oh bloody hell, enough!" Clara shouted, drawing Jack's attention to her. He liked her. Putting aside that she was drop dead gorgeous, she was intelligent and, while so far because of the stressful day they had been having, he hadn't seen her wicked sense of humor, he was sure that she must have one, as she appeared to have taken the best from both her mother and father. Jack was sure she could be a supermodel if she wanted to be; however, she was far too smart for that, and he was thinking she was gearing up to be one of the next Prime Ministers. And what a leader she'd be too!

"We know where he is, why don't we just go in and get him?" Katie asked softly.

R.J. made a point of rolling his eyes and not even turning his attention to her. "Yeah, and then we can all die while we're at it too," he replied sarcastically.

Jack shrugged. "I don't know, I rather like her idea. At least then we would be doing something other than bickering between ourselves," he argued defending Katie and making her smile smugly at her brother.

R.J. turned his attention to Jack with a nasty glare. "I think it's daft," he snapped, "since we aren't all immortal and I do actually want to save my god father, and not just make his situation worse."

"Oh, is that what we're doing? I thought we were just going to go in, make a mess, and write 'Z' on the wall," Jack said with a smirk.

"Is this a fucking joke to you?" R.J. threw his pencil down. "Because it's not. People's lives are on the line here! It's not some funhouse we're visiting!"

Jack stared at the pencil wondering if it really had been thrown. "Did you really just throw a pencil? You know you have a gun right? Hell, a stapler would be at least a little bit more intimidating, or better yet scissors. They're even a bit threatening."

"Damn it—"

"Jack, that's enough," Martha said, cutting off R.J.'s next explosion. She gave R.J. a stern look letting him know she meant him as well. "Now R.J. and Clara have been kind enough to find out where they're housing Ianto, I don't think it's beyond us to find the way in. Let's start with the basics and work our way up."

Jack laid down the charts showing the floor plan for the building. He was more than happy to actually get to work, "Alright, we know he's a patient…"

The talk went on with a lot of arguing and even more eye rolling. But three hours later they had a basic plan that everyone was at least semi-pleased with.

**~~TW~~**

Jack moved swiftly from room to room. He was responsible for finding Ianto, but unfortunately the amount of rooms this place had was daunting. While he was searching, Clara and David were responsible for distracting the care-givers, and he had to admit, they were doing a brilliant job. R.J.'s role had been to get all the doors unlocked and shut the system down; all of that had happened and yet he still had not found Ianto. Was it possible that Ianto had already been moved?

He came to an abrupt halt as a woman in red scrubs ran around the corner of the hallway and stopped dead in front of him.

"W-who are you?" she asked her face already pale, eyes wide. She was clearly already freaking out.

"No-one." He moved to pass her, but she turned and followed.

"You can't be here, this is a secure locked down area," she announced. "There are no civilians allowed in this part of the compound! How did you get in? Are you the one who unlocked the doors? I'm calling security!" Jack was reluctantly impressed that this clearly terrified woman could still manage to muster the courage to stand up to him.

"Good, while you do that can you look up the location of a six-foot tall Welshman?" he asked continuing to check each room he passed in turn. "Bright blue eyes, the most adorable smile, soft-spoken, polite?"

"Ahh." She hesitated half-a-second too long before shaking her head 'no'.

Jack turned abruptly pointing the gun at her. "Wrong answer. Try again."

"Michael McCloud, room 438," she blurted out quickly, seeming to lose whatever nerve she had at the sight of the gun.

Jack smiled genially. "Thank you, you can lead the way." He gestured with his gun for her to move.

She swallowed hard and turned, heading down the hall. "So, who is he? I mean, really we weren't allowed any contact with him, so I figured something had to be going on with him. I never felt he belonged here, you know? Especially not with Jeff as his guard; I've been watching though and I think Jeff kept his hands to himself, but then again Michael is too quiet and it's all a little hard to tell. I-"

"What do you mean 'kept his hands to himself'? Why wouldn't he?" Jack tried to keep his voice even, but he couldn't help the undertone of venom that slipped through. The idea of someone touching _his_ Ianto, without Ianto's permission was literally making the immortal see red.

"He-he was arrested a few years back for molesting our patients. None of us understand why he's out of prison, let alone working here again." She stopped in front of a room gasping when she saw the body on the ground through the open door. She hurried forward and knelt beside the inert man, checking for a pulse. "My God, he's dead," she said softly, horrified at the sight in front of her.

"Is that Michael?" Jack asked unfazed by the body. He was glad it wasn't Ianto, but angered at going on this detour for nothing.

"No, this is his guard, Jeffery. My God, Michael was probably the one that killed him! They said he was dangerous, but I didn't think he was capable of taking a life-" Abruptly her eyes rolled back and she fell forward onto the body.

Jack flipped the handle of his gun back into his hand. He knew he should feel bad for knocking her out, she clearly hadn't been involved in Ianto's imprisonment, but he really couldn't deal with a hysterical woman right now. He quickly left the room again, looking down the hallway and moving in the opposite direction he had come. If Ianto had escaped he'd have headed for the easiest exit or computer.

Sadly there were a lot of possible computers Ianto could have gone for. It all depended on which computer or exit Ianto knew about.

"Oh, that's rancid!" Jack heard Clara's voice down a side corridor and quickly altered his path.

"Is it normal?" R.J. asked, and Jack wondered what the hell those two had discovered.

"How the hell should I know?" she snapped.

"Your mam's the head doctor," R.J. snapped back as though it was the most obvious fact in the world.

"Yes, my mum, not me. I'm a bloody politician!"

Jack rounded the corner to see the two of them kneeling over Ianto's limp form, R.J. had Ianto's eye lids pulled back. Vomit spilled over Ianto's chest onto the floor in front of him.

Relief flooded through Jack as he dashed across, Clara having to jump aside so she wasn't barreled down. He smacked R.J.'s hands away and took a firm hold of Ianto's face, looking into the man's eyes. He was higher than a junkie that'd just got paid. He ran a thumb lightly over Ianto's cheek bone before bringing one hand down to look Ianto over. He ignored the sick as he ran his fingers over each rib checking for any breaks, once more relieved when he didn't find any. Once that was done he did a basic visual check; he was more than a little concerned over how thin the man had become, but it made his next move a hell of a lot easier.

He pulled Ianto up against him, and shouldered his shoulder into Ianto's chest before hauling him up and standing up himself. Carrying Ianto fireman-style wasn't ideal, but it at least left one of his hands free if he needed it.

He paused looking to R.J. and Clara who were remarkably silent. "Let's go," he said heading for the nearest exit. Hopefully David would be there with the SUV, as they really didn't have time to wait. So far they'd been lucky and not run into any U.N.I.T. members, but that didn't mean their luck would hold out for much longer.

He raced down each hallway, allowing Clara to lead as she had the data pad with the blue prints of the building. Finally they pushed through a heavy metal door and skidded out of the building onto the pavement that was covered in puddles of water. Above them the rain was coming down in cold sleets. And there, wonderfully in front of the building, was the black SUV. R.J. quickly moved in front of Jack, opening the hatch at the back, where Jack deposited the very limp form of Ianto. He climbed in after him, R.J. shutting the door with a slam.

Jack instantly turned his attention back to the young man in his arms. Well, he was young compared to him, and more than that he still looked so young. Jordan didn't age mentally until his body reached that stage - was it possible Ianto was aging in the same way? He would never voice that thought to the Welshman though - he did have some value for his life.

He gently ran a hand down Ianto's hollow cheek, deciding he was going to put the man on a diet when they got home; a diet of everything naughty he could make him eat. He racked his brain trying to remember Ianto's pleasure foods. Had he liked ice cream? No, that'd been Gwen. Cake! Ianto always liked cake, particularly chocolate or carrot cake. He pulled Ianto closer, vowing to fatten him up again.

The hotel which would act as their bolt-hole had already been picked out and paid for beforehand. Jack figured they probably looked like kidnappers hurrying into the hotel with Ianto's limp form draped over his shoulder but they had paid enough to ensure the staff looked the other way. They had booked three rooms, with Jack taking the biggest one. No sooner had Jack deposited Ianto onto a shabby sofa than he had practically kicked the other members of his team out of the room. None of them were doctors, so Jack saw no reason for them to clutter the room up further. He decided the first thing he needed to do was clean Ianto off, as he was sure that was what would bother the Welshman the most. Stripping him out of the nasty orange jump suit was fairly quick work and he was glad to see there were no signs of bruises or physical abuse. He did, however, look emaciated. Had Ianto's captors tried to starve him into submission? It was a thought Jack didn't want to dwell on. Jack sighed as he ran a gentle hand over Ianto's head, combing his hair back. He ran a bath and stripped down himself, he could probably bathe Ianto without being in the tub with him, but it was going to be a hell of a lot easier to do it while sharing the same space.

The bath took a good forty minutes, as it was a while before Jack was assured that Ianto was completely clean of the mess he had made. Getting the unconscious Ianto out of the bathtub proved to be a highly difficult task, wet slippery skin against his own slick skin… well, at least he didn't drop him.

Once dry, he dressed Ianto in simple loose clothing and tucked him into the large bed. He was a little startled when Ianto blinked unfocused eyes at him.

"Yan?" Jack asked softly, once again running his thumb over Ianto's cheek.

Ianto gave a sleepy lopsided smile before his eyes shut again. Jack chuckled and stood up. He needed to reconvene with the rest of the team, as well as calling Martha about the fact that U.N.I.T. apparently hired a molester to guard Ianto. That alone should be enough to blackmail them into releasing any claim they had on him. It would probably take the majority of the night to get them to relent, but they would relent.

~~**TW**~~

Jack stared down at the ground where the stain from Ianto's final bout of sickness marked the carpet. He was sure they'd be charged for it. Not that he minded, Torchwood certainly had the money to cover the cleaning of a damn rug.

"Jack." Ianto's voice came weakly from the bathroom and Jack quickly turned to face him. Ianto leaned heavily against the wall, his overly thin chest breathing far harder than it should have for a mere trip to the bathroom. "I need clothing if we're going home. I don't really fancy the idea of walking out of here shirtless."

Jack nodded. "We brought some for you; it's in David's room. We'll get it soon enough. Why don't you lie down and I'll order up some room service for you first. I was thinking maybe cake?"

Ianto sighed shuffling over to the bed and plopping down on it rather dramatically. "I like cake," he mumbled into the pillow, and Jack had to smile.

"I know." He sat on the edge of the bed petting the back of Ianto's head. "We could do with a good heavy meal, with steak and maybe a potato?"

"Mmm." Ianto agreed.

Jack leaned over Ianto's back his hand trailing lower straight down Ianto's spine. His fingers ghosting over the ridges before sliding off and onto the bed. He knelt down brushing a feather kiss to the back of Ianto's neck.

Ianto snorted into the pillow. "That tickles."

Jack chuckled. "Well, if you weighed more than a feather I might consider it safe to do more exciting things with you right now."

Ianto turned over rolling his eyes. "First off, I am perfectly fine, a little thin, but perfectly fine." He ignored Jack's snort. "Second, I do not believe I've consented to dating your playboy butt again."

Jack smiled. "Playgirl butt. Playboy has the pictures of the girls. As for your health…" He pinched one of Ianto's ribs, making him yelp and slap the Jack's hands away. "These are not supposed to stick out! Did you eat at all these past few weeks?"

"Obviously, since I didn't die, I just... got a bit pissy."

"A bit pissy? Ianto, next time you want to piss someone off, make _them_ starve, not yourself." He leaned down giving Ianto the softest of kisses.

Ianto allowed it for a moment before half-heartedly pushing Jack away, but he couldn't keep the soft smile from his lips. "Prat."

Jack just grinned at him, his brightest, most charming grin. "You know, since you claim to be healthy and all... I suppose we could…" He waggled his eye brows at Ianto, making the younger man crack up laughing. "That's a yes, then?" He leaned down capturing Ianto's lips again, this time with enough pressure to be a real kiss.

Ianto gently moved his lips against Jack's, but was very careful not to allow the man's devilish tongue access. He was well aware that if he did he'd not be able to refuse the man anything, and, as he did want to return home tonight, that wasn't an option.

Jack was remarkably surprised when he got a mouthful of pillow. He laughed as he was struck again, and rolled away so he was no longer hovering over the younger man. "Alright, alright!"

Ianto turned on his side grinning at his Captain. "If you want me to eat, you best order it now as I'd like to get home soon and see my son. I've missed his chubby little face for long enough."

Jack nodded, sitting up and grabbing the phone for room service.

"And Jack?"

Jack turned to look at him.

"Thank you, for getting Jordan to safety," Ianto said honestly.

Jack smiled and nodded to him before starting to order what Ianto knew he'd never be able to finish.

**~~TW**~~

Katie walked into garage just as the SUV pulled in, holding Jordan close. Ever since Jack had left, Jordan had become impossible to let go. The child flat-out refused to be let down, his little arms and legs seemed to have created a dead bolt lock around her body.

"Jordan," she said softly. "Look who is back."

The child didn't budge and Katie sighed, her arms were really sore from holding him for so long. She mustered up a smile though as Jack got out of the driver's seat, and she was a little shocked at how thin Ianto appeared as he rounded the SUV. She'd have to fix that quickly.

Ianto grinned at the sight of her and jogged over. Jordan still hadn't even turned around to see who was there, his head buried into the crook of her neck.

Ianto laid a gentle hand on Jordan's back. "Jordan?"

The child gave a gasp, his head jerking up and around, his red-rimmed eyes streaming all over again. He immediately let go of Katie and all but flung himself at Ianto.

Ianto gathered him easily into his arms. "Oh, oh ok. Shhhh you're alright," he cooed into the child's ear as Jordan cried. "You're alright." He rocked back and forth as he continued to try and talk Jordan down. Katie was pretty sure he was also trying to calm himself down, and was 100% sure that Ianto wouldn't be letting Jordan go any time soon either.

Jack came up behind them, ruffling not just Jordan's hair, but Ianto's too, earning himself a dirty look from Ianto. "How's Mica?" he asked, taking Katie to one side.

Katie smiled. "Better, she regained consciousness about an hour ago, not for long, just a few moments. But it was something, yeah? Martha thinks she'll make a full recovery, and then I think she plans to kill her."

David huffed as he walked past. "She'll have to get in line," he mumbled, but was clearly walking quicker, no doubt to check on his little sister.

R.J. and Clara hung back talking by the SUV. There had been a time when they had been inseparable, practically attached at the hip. It'd never been romantic and neither of them had ever wanted it to be. Clara was more than happy to stay with David, but R.J. was her best friend. It was a shame that it took their godfather being kidnapped to remember that. She was going to make a point not to forget again, and she patted R.J.'s shoulder before following after David to check on Mica. Mica was, and probably always would be, the annoying older sister that was _always _right. Clara was going to look forward to rubbing this mistake in her face - but only a little.

R.J paused as he looked to Katie. There were times he really, _really,_ believed he hated the girl, but most of the time it was just a real strong dislike. They'd never gotten along; even as children they did everything possible to make the other's life, hell. Still, as he stood there watching her, he knew that even with so much dislike between them, he would never, ever, allow any harm to come to her. Well, unless he inflicted it himself of course.

R.J. gave her a small, slightly forced smile. "Come on then." He came forward taking her by her arm and leading her down to the Hub. They didn't need to invade on Ianto and Jordan's time right now. It was bad enough the moron wasn't going to leave. What his godfather saw in Captain Jack Harkness he would _never_ understand. Though he knew one thing for sure, his mother _obviously_ over-glorified the immortal.

As the door to the Hub slid closed leaving them alone, Jack turned back to stare at Ianto and his child. For once in his life he had a child and a partner whose lives wouldn't speed by, leaving him alone when they passed away. The feeling of hope was astounding; the feeling of love was breathtaking.

* * *

Please review?


	17. Epilogue

A.N. So this is it. Sad day. All fluff, no real drama. So I'm thinking, while I want to do the sequel as it's going to be a lot of fun! I think I'll lie cool for a little bit as my writings got a bit slower these past few weeks. I think in the mean time I'll set up a story for Drabbles, where I'll post mini stories from somewhere within this timeline. Meaning the story may take place back in the time of the seasons or it may take place thousands of years from now, but each one of them will be in this time line. Sound alright to everyone?

Thank you again to my wonderful beta's!

Bought a PS3, I love and adore it! It's brilliant, just being able to stream my Netflix is brilliant! I love it! I re-watched a lot of Torchwood to help get me in the proper mood to write. I really forgot how much I love that show. Pretty Jack. Bet you can guess which episode I re-watched from this chapter. It is a brilliant episode.

So for our last Torchwood quote we come back to the book that started this story. Thank you all for reading and have a wonderful day and holiday.

Torchwood Quote:

…Plus, he was wearing a really unadvisable beige trouser suit.

'I've been shopping on the way in,' he explained. 'Everything so far has been Lisa's. But I figured it's a bit… you know…'

'Creepy?' Gwen was quietly appalled.

Ianto nodded. 'Yeah. Dead girlfriend's clothes. I know. But I still had some of her stuff, and I figured… well, she's the woman I know the most, really. Well, that's not true. There's also my mother. But, firstly, it's just wrong, and secondly, floral print.' He put on a brave smile, showing off perfect teeth. 'Anyway, I spotted this on the way in. It feels a bit more… me.'

Gwen nodded, kindly. 'Yes. Very nice.'

Jack wandered past. 'Ianto. Beige. No.' He vanished into his office.

Ianto sighed. 'Were you being polite?'

(Almost Perfect, By James Goss, Pg 60)

* * *

Unpleasant or Extraordinary  
By Wildfire  
Epilogue

Ianto stood by his window looking out to the street, listening to Jack and Jordan playing in the child's bedroom. He had spent all of the previous night curled around Jordan, then this morning he had made him a rather large breakfast before they had spent the day at the park with Jack.

It was now getting close to five o'clock and Ianto was starting to get antsy. He felt like a slightly bad father to be doing what he was about to do, but he really needed to do it. It had to be done; but now his heart pounded a little harder as he watched a car pull into the compound. Finally. He left the window to go and open the front door, and waited at the top of the stairs for R.J. to climb up.

R.J. gave him a half-hearted glare as he reached him. "You've been home just over 24 hours and you're already getting a baby sitter?"

Ianto smiled. "Only for a few hours. Thank you for doing this."

"Yeah, yeah." R.J. grinned, and gave Ianto a soft punch in the arm. "So, where's the munchkin?"

"With Jack in his room." Ianto moved to one side to allow R.J. to enter the apartment.

R.J.'s face darkened a little. "Well, let's hope he's still alive then," he commented tartly over his shoulder as he headed for the room. Ianto followed, hoping to avoid the explosion that was bound to happen between the two.

Jack looked up as the young man came into the room, with scowl on his face. "R.J.? What are you doing here?"

"I'm taking Jordan out to dinner and to see a movie," R.J. deadpanned, clearly seeing no reason to have to explain anything to the immortal.

"He's a bit young for a date, perhaps in a couple hundred years? Plus, I think at this current point Ianto would like to keep his son here."

"Actually Jack, I asked him to come," Ianto corrected as he leaned against the door frame. He knew it was horrible of him - really, really bad parenting - but he needed this. It was only for a couple of hours after all.

"Why?" Jack stood up, arms crossed, a mulish, stubborn expression marring his handsome futures. "We just reunited you with your son yesterday, and now you want him to go out?"

Ianto couldn't help the small blush that spilled onto his cheeks. "It's only for a few hours," he argued, amazed at Jack's sudden and uncharacteristic denseness.

"Why? What is so important that needs to get done in a few hours that he can't be here for? Do you have any idea how much he missed you?" Jack accused.

R.J. gave a snort. "For once I agree with the idiot. Though an idiot he is. Harkness, what do you think he wants, that would need you to be here and Jordan not to be?"

Jack blinked, his eyes widened and his expression cleared as he broke into a large grin. He clapped his hands. "Jordan, R.J.'s going to take you for a special dinner and to see a movie!"

Jordan blinked, looking up from his toys. "What movie?"

"_Traveling Trevor_," Ianto answered. "You'll like it." He went to Jordan's closet, pulling out the boy's coat, before kneeling down. "Come here."

Jordan went over to him. "You come?"

Ianto gently brushed Jordan's hair back. "No love, this is special time for you and R.J., you don't get to see him often. But I'll be right here waiting for you when you return." He carefully put the jacket on the child, zipping it up.

"Jack come?"

"Papa," Ianto corrected softly, since he figured if Jordan knew who Jack was he should really start call him by the appropriate name. "And no, he's going to stay here with me." He leaned forward kissing Jordan's forehead.

"Me wanna stay here too!"

"'I want to stay here too,'" Ianto corrected, "But not tonight, we need to talk about some very serious agendas and you would be very bored, plus you wouldn't be able to spend time with R.J."

"I don't wanna go!" Scowling he stomped his foot and started undoing the zipper of his coat.

Ianto sighed and pulled the boy against him. "Jordan, I know the timing of this is really not ideal. I understand, and I understand why you want to stay at home." His fingers gently combed through Jordan's hair. "I'm not going to negotiate this though, even though I really want to. I need you to be a big boy and have a fun night with R.J."

Jordan put on his most adorable pout looking up at his tad with the biggest watery eyes he could manage. "Please?"

Ianto smiled. "Your papa is teaching you bad habits." He stood Jordan back up onto his feet and re-zipped the boy's coat, giving his nose a little tap once he'd finished. "Do you know that _Traveling Trevor's_ about a young boy that is on a quest to save his village from being destroyed by an evil wizard? It sounds very exciting; when you get back you can tell me if he was able to save the village."

Jordan paused at that. "Okay, but you have to be here when I get home!" he said with a definite nod.

Ianto smiled. "I'll be here, love." He stood up picking Jordan up with him. "Remember to be good in the movie and not talk while the show's on, ok?"

Jordan nodded. "'Kay."

Ianto gave him a firm hug and kissed the boy's head again. "Tell your papa good bye," he said as he passed the boy over to Jack. He was relieved that Jordan had decided to go, as he wasn't sure he'd be able to continue to push the child to leave, no matter how much he needed comforting of his own.

Jack took him and tossed him in the air before catching him and giving him a tight hug. "Oh, I'll miss my big man!" He laughed as Jordan gave him a rather wet kiss on the cheek and then passed Jordan to R.J.

R.J. took him, settling the child on his hip. "You have just over three hours to see to your _agenda_; be sure to finish before we return." He gave a curt nod to Jack and a fond smile to Ianto before leaving the flat.

Ianto stood silently for a moment, knowing he wouldn't have to wait long before -

"SO!" Jack clapped his hands. "You wanted to be alone…. With me." He waggled his eye brows suggestively.

Ianto smiled. "Perhaps, but perhaps I just wanted some time to collect my thoughts?"

"No," Jack disagreed firmly.

"No? Well, perhaps I just needed some quiet time?" Ianto tried again, starting to move backwards to his room.

"Nope," Jack countered again with what could only be described as a leer.

"Hmm. Well, maybe I just needed some good old fashion soaking in a large tub by myself?"

"Absolutely not," Jack said as he followed Ianto towards the room.

"Well, I'm at a loss then. I can't imagine what it was I needed to do so badly."

Jack moved forward quickly pressing Ianto against the wall just outside his bedroom. "Mm, I could help you with that. " He grinned. "You see for the last month or so you've been watching my backside and missing the bulging muscles and wondering—"

Ianto silenced the man with a kiss. If there was one thing Jack was horribly good at, it was talking with cheesy lines. The kiss wasn't soft or slow, it was exactly the opposite. It was hard and fast, full of pure lust; the desire to touch and be touched. The warm flesh of Jack's calloused fingers found their way under his shirt and over his stomach. Damn he loved Jack's hands. Ianto was pretty sure they were magical, as no hands should be able to move the way his hands did.

His head jerked to the side as the need for air became overwhelming. Jack obviously didn't feel the same as his mouth immediately latched onto the Welshman's neck, his hands continuing up Ianto's chest.

"Jack..." Ianto groaned, as he wanted the older man in a way he had never wanted anyone else. He was slightly curious to think if there ever would be someone he would be as attracted to.

The clothing was quickly becoming a problem, as it was getting in the way of Ianto being able to explore the body he had once known so well. He pulled, pushed and nearly ripped at the clothing that seemed to have become glued to his lover's body.

Jack gave a loud laugh when a particularly harsh pull sent them both falling to the hard ground. Jack was lucky enough to have landed on top of the other man. A position he was more than happy with, and he ran a gentle hand down Ianto's now bare chest.

Ianto gave a loud moan as Jack kissed him hard again; he could feel Jack lying over him, the hot flesh flush against his own. "Jack…" he found himself whimpering, and realized he was ready to beg the man even though he hadn't done anything yet. He might have felt a little disgusted with himself, if he wasn't so engrossed with where Jack's hands were currently heading.

**~~TW~~**

Jack smiled as he propped himself up on his elbow, head lazily resting on his hand. His fingers traced slowly over Ianto's chest, as he watched it rise and fall in a slow, even pattern; his finger tip moving up and circling the pink nub of Ianto's nipple. The floor was hard and cold, but he didn't mind in the least.

He grinned as Ianto mumbled in his sleep and swatted at the empty air. He was sure there could never be anyone as adorable as the man in front of him. He brought his hand up to Ianto's mouth running his thumb and fingers over the young man's lips. "You shouldn't be legal, you know," he said softly. "You're far too pretty." His fingers moved to trace over Ianto's eyebrows. "You know when I first realized I had to have you? It was after those insufferable cannibals. We had treated you like you were our servant, even when we started trying to include you, we were rubbish at it. And yet on that day, you preformed better than we all did. Owen was a mess, leaving the keys in the car and so focused on Gwen he didn't even notice the obvious. Gwen was still so green herself. Tosh… Tosh did well until she froze up in the slaughter room. But not you, she told me every time you thought there was an opening you took it. Brilliant. You came out beaten and battered, and still you gave that little smile when I came to collect you. You couldn't even stand and you asked me what _I_ needed." He smiled leaning down to kiss the sleeping man.

"Mmm." Ianto smiled into the kiss. "And here I thought it was that my backside looked so incredibly perfect in those jeans."

Jack chuckled. "You were supposed to be asleep." He gave Ianto's nipple a little twist.

"I was trying, but you're bloody loud." Ianto opened his eyes half way. "Most people _think_ to themselves, not to the person sleeping peacefully."

"You spoke to me when I slept," Jack reminded running his finger down the length of Ianto's face.

"You were in a coma, Jack! It's a bit different." Ianto sat up, forcing Jack to move back a little. "What time is it?"

"We have at least another hour." Jack grinned. "Lots to do in an hour."

Ianto tried, he really did, but he couldn't stop the grin that plastered itself over his face. "I suppose a shower might do," he conceded.

"Oh, I like showers." Jack nodded standing up. "Did you know humans are a rare race that uses water to shower with? Most life forms use something more hygienic as they shower. Like if we were to use a milky soap…"

Ianto took Jack's hand listening as he continued to ramble on about things that usually made very little sense. Sometimes he'd catch little things Jack would say, and usually he'd wish he hadn't. Eventually he figured he'd hear and understand it all, but now was definitely not the time. After setting the water at the appropriate level Ianto gave the still rambling Jack a firm, but gentle push into the shower.

And finally shut him up with an equally firm, but gentle kiss.

* * *

So we reached the end. First drabble up will be CountryCide! I really had fun writing it so I hope you will all enjoy it. Hope you enjoyed this story! Anyone know of a good community this story would fit into?


End file.
